Hey guys, thank you so much for the reviews :) Always brightens my day when I see them. Hope you like this chapter! Sorry it took so long to update, I've been so busy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars but if I did Emison would already be married with children.
Alison's POV-
I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. She was so beautiful. The way her dark ravenous hair flowed down her back in all the right places and the way her eyes creased when she smiled. She was everything.
I was so nervous about seeing her but when I laid my eyes on her, I felt so at ease. Everything just seemed so relaxed and easy with her but still so intriguing and exciting.
I thought long and hard all day about what to do and where to take her. The only thing that kept popping into my head was to take her to my favourite place that no one knew about. Maybe it would mean something to her.
We walked down the trail through the forest, minding our steps. She kept asking me where I was taking her; but I would let her see for herself.
"Are you sure you're not some crazy stalker that is going to take me deep into the woods to kill me?" She asked in a mocking tone.
I laughed at her as if she was crazy but didn't answer her question.
We were walking so close to each other that the backs of our hands kept colliding. I really wanted to just hold them but I didn't want to freak her out.
"Stop." I told her and she looked at me questioningly but did as I said. "Close your eyes." She looked at me again with those brown orbs but she seemed nervous. "Trust me." I whispered as I watched her eyes flutter shut.
I walked until I was stood right behind her. I carefully placed my hands on the sides of her arms to guide her to the entrance of paradise. She gasped at my touch and clenched but eased into it after I kept reassuring her that I wouldn't let anything hurt her.
I slowly pushed her forward until we were both stood on the edge of the field. I removed my hands from her soft skin and stood beside her.
"Alison?"
"Open."
I carefully watched at her eyes fluttered open and gradually got bigger as she started to focus on what she was seeing. She gasped and smiled. It was the cutest thing.
I took her to my most favourite place in the whole wide world. No one could find me here. It was the only place I had that I could really really call my own. It was the place I went when everything got too much and I had to escape the real world. It was a field. That's all. But it was my field.
It was covered in the most beautiful flowers you'd ever seen. Everything was so brightly coloured it was almost too good to be real. But right in the middle of the flower field, there was a small patch of just plain grass. The grass never grew and I never found out why. The whole place was just magical and the only place I could really ever think.
I reached down and carefully placed my hand in Emily's and just as I thought, it fit perfectly.
"What is this place?" She turned round to face me smiling and I couldn't help but smile back.
"It's just somewhere I go when I need a break from everything. I found it as a kid. I used to come here every day and not go home for hours. I used to worry my mom a lot because I would never tell her where I was going. No one knows about this place but me…and now you." I nudged her gently.
"It's so beautiful." She was still in awe as she looked around the field.
"Yeah, it is." I whispered directly looking at her.
We settled on sitting in the middle on the grass patch. She was opposite me and toying with my hands. I just kept thinking to myself how perfect things would be if we could just stay here forever.
"So, you own the Grille? How did that happen?" Emily asked while her gaze was still on our hands.
"My Grandpa was the one that started it. When he died, I was the only one that really knew what to do because I spend so much time with him there. I had no job and no money so the family agreed to let me take over and I have done since I was 20." I answered honestly.
"How come Spencer doesn't work there? Seeing as you two are sisters" She asked.
"She's actually my half-sister. My mum slept with her dad which caused a lot of problems when I was younger. Her parents were lawyers and wanted to pass their business down to her." I answered.
"Oh right. So how long have Spencer and Aria been together? I really don't think Aria likes me." She said with a sad tone.
"They've been together since they were 17, so 10 years now which is amazing. Aria is just very weary of new people that come in to her life. She had a lot of problems when she was a teenager and found it hard to trust people because everyone kept letting her down." I took a long deep breath. "Same goes for me, you know. But not with you and I find that strange and slightly terrified at how I'm so comfortable around you already"
"Me too."
We stared at each other for a moment and I couldn't help but smile.
"What's your favourite shade of red?" Emily asked me curiously.
"What? That's a bit of a spontaneous question, isn't it?" I laughed at how weird she was. Not the bad kind of weird, the very good kind.
"It is a bit but I don't know. I really like finding out the little details about people, the stuff no one asks."
"Alright, fair enough. I'd have to say crimson." I raised my eyebrow.
"Good choice." She winked at me with those big brown beautiful eyes. "I was meaning to ask you something. Are there any jobs going around here? My mom keeps pestering me to get one."
I had an idea that may or may not be great. "Well… I'm always looking for new employees." I hinted.
"Oh really? I think you'd get sick of me after a few hours." Emily giggled lightly.
"Oh I highly doubt that." I blushed as soon as I said it and I discreetly looked at her to find she was covering up a blush herself. "Anyway, we should go. There's only so long you can sit here before your ass goes numb" We both laughed.
I stood up before reaching my hand down to grab hers to pull her up. When she was fully stood up, she didn't let go of my hand and I was entirely content with that.
We walked back through the forest when another good idea popped into my head.
"There's a carnival tonight in Rosewood Park." I mentioned casually.
"That's cool." She turned to smile at me.
"I was just wondering whether you wanted to go with me. Uh seeing as we're already spending the day together." I stumbled out nervously.
I heard her laugh and instantly realized how stupid I must've sounded. She's probably got plans with far better people than me.
"You're going to think I'm weird but I've never actually been to a carnival before." She said shyly.
"Seriously? Are you sure?" I sounded shocked.
"Yeah. I just never had the time." She seemed sad suddenly. "But if the offer still stands, I'd really love to go with you."
"Great." I couldn't contain my smile.
Emily's POV-
I think I can honestly say that today has been the best day ever. I've never met anyone like her and I think I'm falling for her which sounds crazy because I barely know her but something just feels right.
The last time I fell for someone one was about 8 years ago. Her name was Paige and I shared my dorm with her in college. We were together for almost a year but she cheated on me with her English teacher.
But now thinking about it, I don't think I've ever been really in love. I didn't think that it was something I needed.
"Are you sure you want to watch this film?" I asked hesitantly after learning that Alison loves horror films while I truly hate them.
"Yeah? Why, don't you want to see it?" She looked almost sad. I couldn't turn down a pretty face like that.
"Um no it looks great." I almost convinced myself.
"Great!" She shrieked and it was the cutest thing. Alison grabbed my hand and pulled me in with her other arm clenching the popcorn.
I had to keep looking away during the movie. It was so horribly gory and scary. I honestly never thought she'd be in to this kind of stuff. I guess she's just filled with surprises.
On the plus side to hating this movie, I had an excuse to grab on to her arm and hide myself in her hair that smell of coconuts and chocolate.
Every few minutes she would tilt her head to face me and ask 'Are you sure you're okay?' and every time I would just nod because I was too busy staring at the way the light was shining on her eyes and made them sparkle.
A few times when the movie wasn't too bad I could look at the screen, but when I did I noticed in the corner of my eye that she was staring at me. If I turned round to face her then all my self-control would go out of the window and I would kiss her right there and then.
I tried to stay calm but every time our hands touched while reaching for the popcorn, I was hit again with all this emotion that I didn't know how to control. I couldn't understand how she was having this effect on me. It was scary but still so surreal.
I hardly watched the movie, instead I just kept catching myself staring at her when she wasn't staring at me. When you think about it, it all seems rather funny.
I knew the movie was ending because the guy had just about killed everyone except the dog. This time she was staring at me again, I could feel her gaze all over my face and I didn't know what to do. The tension was growing between us and it was like she was expecting me to kiss her.
I shifted in my seat to face her and a small smile was creeping on her face. My stomach was hit with a ton of butterflies. I was still mesmerised with the way the screen light was glowing on her face and highlighted every beautiful aspect.
I leaned forward first slowly and made sure this was what she wanted. I kept my gaze on her lips while I watched them gradually move forward towards me and her hand moved to behind my neck. This was what she wanted.
I was centimetres away from her face and I could smell her strawberry lip gloss. Oh how I wanted nothing but to taste it.
Just as our lips were about to connect for the first time, there was a sudden flash outside my closed eyes and I pulled away and opened them to see what the problem was.
"Sorry ladies but the movie as finished and we're closing the theatre. I'll have to ask you to leave." A fairly skinny guy, who was very clearly gay himself, asked us politely while removing the torch from my face. I looked at Alison and she had a sad smile on her face but nodded for us to go.
Once was got outside the theatre it was getting darker as the moon rose and Alison hadn't said anything to me yet which worried me.
"So, do you still want to go to the carnival?" I asked hopefully, trying to cut the awkwardness between us.
She sighed and the expression on her face was still the same as it was 5 minutes ago, clearly upset and confused. I didn't know if she was mad at me but I figured she probably didn't want to talk about it yet.
"I'm really sorry but I'm uh really tired and not feeling so great. Rain check?" She wasn't even looking at me which really did worry me and made me think I did something wrong.
I was really confused myself. "Well, okay. Did you want me to walk you home?" I asked.
She sighed again. "No, it's fine. I guess I'll just see you around." I could see the pain in her eyes as she began walking away.
I lightly touched her wrist causing her to turn round and look at me. Her eyes were filled with hurt and regret and instantly knew I had screwed this up. "Alison, if I've done something wrong then please tell me. I can't go home until I know why I made you like this."
Her eyes looked away again to stare at the ground. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just need some time."
"Time to what?"
"To think about things. I liked you, okay? I do. I just don't want to rush this. I met you yesterday and we're already out on a date. Don't you think that's a little strange? I mean I barely know you and you don't know me. I need time to think about what I really want and what's going to be best for me and calli…uh never mind. I just think that if we start of as friends then see where it takes us, okay? But don't get me wrong, I really do like you." She looked up and smirked at me when she said the last bit.
I thought about it for the moment and decided that if that's what is going to make her happy for now then that's what we'll do. Love is putting other people's needs before your own.
"Friends." I reached out my hand waiting for her to shake.
Alison looked at me puzzled for a moment and then burst out laughing before pulling me in to hug. I wrapped my arms round her waist tight which probably wasn't the friendliest thing to do but I saw a chance and took it.
She pulled away but still had her arms slung over my neck and sighed. Before she left she leaned in a kissed my cheek. I'm pretty sure I'll never forget that feeling.
Alison's POV-
I closed the door behind me and as it wasn't too late I expected Callie to be awake. I missed her so much these days.
"Mommy!" I heard her squeal as she ran through from the kitchen into my arms. I picked her up, held her on my hip and kissed her forehead like I did everyday coming back from work.
"Hey boo, where's grandma?" I asked when I couldn't see her.
"She's in the kitchen tryna find some dinner. I had mine though." Callie said ever so innocently. I forgot I hadn't been food shopping this week and now I'll probably get a lecture from my mother about how I need to provide for my family.
"Mom?" I made my way into the kitchen to find her rummaging in the fridge.
"As it's the weekend tomorrow and you're not at work, you'll be spending the weekend with your daughter while I get to go home for a bit, you can go food shopping because all there is, is Callie's food that I can't eat. I'm starving, I'm going out for dinner." With that she walked straight past me, grabbed her hand bag and left.
"Well she's a bit moody today, huh?" I asked Callie and she laughed and nodded. "Why don't we get into our pyjamas and watch a movie? I'll let you choose."
"The Incredibles please!" She jumped up and down squealing.
"Alright. Alright! Go get your pyjamas on then." I asked as she ran off to her room.
Callie was so much like me in many ways which I was so grateful for because if she was anything like him I don't know how I would've coped. She had long blonde wavy hair, she was fairly tanned for a child that's never been abroad and she was stubborn. She fought for what she believed in and sometimes that's the thing I'm most proud of.
I heard my phone buzz in my pocket and reached to get it. It was only a text from Spencer asking how the 'date' went. I really didn't know what I was supposed to tell her because she's probably just as shocked as I was that I actually found someone I liked.
It's complicated Spence, you know that. I really like her and it scares me. I told her that we should just start of as being friends then see where it takes us. Do you think that was okay? Besides that, I had one of the best days of my life. She's amazing. – Ali
I text back and within a few minutes she text back. She must've been really excited about this.
It makes sense but friends don't keep secrets. Before you both decide to take the next step, you have to tell her about Callie. I have a feeling she'll be totally fine with it. It's so good to see you happy – Spencer
I know she's right but I don't know how I'd tell her. Maybe I could get her to meet her and tell her she's my cousin I'm looking after or something? I could see how they got on and then if it's good then I could tell her. I don't want to lie but I need to decide what would be best for Callie.
"Mom, why don't you have your pyjamas on?" I heard Callie's dainty voice ask in the background. I turned round.
"Auntie Spencer wanted to talk to me. I'll go get them on now. Go find the film." I rushed off into my bedroom and got dressed while my very impatient daughter was waiting for me.
