November 2010

"Do you really think they'll split up?" Emily asked, her voice as soft as it always was when she was speaking to Alison. Her fingers were combing through thick, curly, beautiful, blond hair. Alison's head was laying on Emily's lap, and they were huddled together in Alison's room. It was early November, and already quite cold out. Jessica DiLaurentis had just prepared for them hot chocolate, but neither girl had been in the mood for it after Alison filled Emily in on the latest problems with her family.

"They're living in two different houses," Alison muttered, sniffing. "I don't think there's even a doubt about it now."

"Maybe he'll come around," Emily tried, but she knew that nothing she could say would convince Alison to disbelieve the truth. And the truth was that Mr. and Mrs. DiLaurentis were splitting up—and a divorce was soon to come.

"Doubt it," Alison muttered, her voice suddenly sounding colder. "He couldn't care less about her, or me, at this point."

Emily's heart clenched at hearing Alison sound so bitter and yet heartbroken about her dad, and she carefully combed her fingers through Alison's hair again, gently scratching her scalp. Alison, laying in one of her most favorite positions, let her eyes flicker closed as she enjoyed the feeling. While she really was wrecked by her father officially moving out, laying here with Emily made her feel much better. Finally, Emily spoke. "I think he's stupid for leaving you behind."

Alison couldn't help the gentle smile that split from her frown. "We should go swimming."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "It's cold outside."

"Not in an outdoor pool, Em," Alison said, playfully rolling her eyes as she sat up from her position. Emily suddenly missed the warmth of Alison's hair over her lap. "At the nat."

"Can someone even get in there on a Saturday?" Emily questioned.

Alison shrugged. "The seniors are always talking about swimming there on Saturdays. The school is unlocked on weekends, isn't it?"

Emily shrugged. "How are we going to get there? I don't want to walk in the cold."

"Jason can drive us," Alison volunteered her brother, smiling. "Mom says that he owes me a ride anyway."

Fifteen minutes later found Emily and Alison pushing through the open natatorium doors. The place was dark and empty, but after turning on the lights, slipping into swim suits, and getting into the tepid water, it didn't feel any different than swimming on a school day.

Emily cut through the crystal clear water easily, and Alison stopped to watch her. Once Emily broke out of her swim though, and looked to the blonde, Alison just smiled. "Why do they call it a natatorium anyway?"

Emily couldn't help but smile. She liked it when Alison asked random questions like that. "It's comes from the Latin root word."

Alison raised her eyebrows. "I can't believe that you just know that off of the top of your head."

"French does come from Latin you know?" Emily said, rolling her eyebrows playfully at her best friend, who swam closer to her.

"French class is so boring. I can't believe we got stuck in different class periods. It would be so much more fun if you were in it. I literally have to sit there for an hour and endure Mona Vanderwaal discussing French fashion with the teacher," Alison griped, grimacing and shaking her head. "It's hell."

"The only reason you're even in French is because you want to go to Paris," Emily reminded her best friend, smirking.

"Don't you want to go to Paris?" Alison countered, widening her eyes slightly as she said the capital of France in French. She batted her eyelashes at Emily. "With me?"

Emily smiled and gave into her instincts as she leaned forward and captured Alison's lips in her own. Alison immediately seemed to melt as she pressed her submerged body against Emily's. They hadn't kissed again since Halloween, but now, it felt much more natural, as though it were the most instinctual thing for one of them to kiss the other.

When Emily pulled away, she smiled softly at Alison. "I would love to go to Paris with you."

November 2010

"Emily, I told you, we're going to see your aunt for Thanksgiving since she can't come up here to see us," Pam insisted to her daughter, who gave her a pleading look. Emily had already promised Alison that she would go to her house for Thanksgiving.

"Mom, Alison needs me right now," Emily insisted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Her parents are splitting up! I'm lucky to have you and dad as parents, and she's not that lucky to have parents that love each other like you two do. You have to let me stay and be here for her."

Pam's eyes searched her daughter's face, and then she let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine, you can stay here. Go upstairs and pack everything you need to stay there for three days, because I'm setting the alarm in here and that means no running back here while I'm gone."

"Thank you, mom!" Emily said, smiling widely and hurrying upstairs to get her stuff, which she had honestly already packed up. Yes, she had to do a little schmoozing in order to stay in Rosewood for these few days. It wasn't like Emily really wanted to go see her aunt anyway. If it were her dad, she would've been willing to leave, but not for her aunt.

Things between her and Alison had been quite strange lately. Or, not strange exactly, just different. They were always getting lost in each other's eyes, or smiling shy smiles every now and then. Their relationship was changing from best friend to… more. Emily was definitely not upset about it. Scared, yes, but not upset. Emily had always known that she wasn't really like the majority of girls—she'd never even had a crush on a guy before. Alison, however… Emily would never have guessed that she would be gay or…

Another part that was strange—they hadn't had a single conversation about what this was. They hadn't talked about their sexual orientations, though that could be more understandable. The worst part was that they hadn't discussed what they were doing. The kissing, the flirting that had started happening as well. The longing looks and the sudden need to be hanging out away from their homes and from school. Emily almost felt like one of the stereotypical teenagers that adults always claimed "snuck around with their boyfriends"… only, Emily didn't have a boyfriend. She had Alison.

Ten minutes later, Pam dropped Emily off at the DiLaurentis house. Emily gave her mom a simple goodbye, and then she was out the car door, her bag in hand and walking straight into her second home. That's what Alison's house was to her, anyway.

It was weird coming in here lately, though, without Mr. DiLaurentis around. Emily tried not to let it bother her, since she knew that it was already bothering Alison, and gave a wave to Mrs. DiLaurentis in the kitchen before rushing upstairs. Alison's door was wide open, so Emily just walked in. Her best friend was sitting with her legs crossed on her bed, reading a book.

"Hey," Emily chirped, getting Alison's attention. The blonde immediately grinned, closing her book and setting it aside.

"Your mom said yes?" Alison gathered, raising her eyebrows.

"Of course. Who could say no to my face?" Emily joked, setting her bag down on the floor and closing Alison's door. That had become habit lately—in the past month, they had kissed more and more often after their last two tentative ones. Door closing was starting to get important.

"You make a valid point," Alison agreed, fluttering her eyelashes at Emily from across the room, as if asking her to come sit next to her. Emily joined Alison, sitting a short distance away from her on the bed.

"Three days," Emily said, grinning, and then collapsing unceremoniously onto her best friend, who fell back against her pillow.

"Emily," Alison groaned, trying to push Emily off of her. Smiling to herself, Emily put all of her weight onto her best friend, who eventually gave up and just went limp under Emily's deadweight. The blonde huffed, but almost immediately after, her fingers tangled into Emily's hair and started brushing through it. Emily found herself adjusting into a more comfortable position and curling up further into the blonde.

"Ali…" Emily started, trying to gather courage to say what she wanted to… or really, what she needed to.

"What's up?" Alison asked, her voice soft and distracted sounding as she combed through Emily's dark hair. Emily didn't say anything for a second, instead closing her eyes and letting herself shiver as Alison's nails gently scratched her scalp.

"I think we should… we should talk about… about us," Emily said quietly. Alison's fingers stilled suddenly, and Emily felt her stomach twist inside her a little bit.

Only second later, though, the blonde's fingers continued their movements and Alison agreed softly, "Okay."

They laid there quietly for about a minute, Alison's fingers still just scratching against Emily's head as she touched her hair. Finally, though, Emily pulled away from their comfortable position and sat up, facing her best friend, who sat up as well. "You're my best friend, Alison."

Alison blinked. "And you're my best friend."

Emily took a shaky breath—she wasn't really sure how she was supposed to say what she needed to. "What… what are we doing?" Alison frowned. "I'm not asking because I… because I don't want to do it or anything. I just… wanna know that we're on the same page."

Alison reached forward and grabbed Emily's hands. The voice she spoke in next was the softest Emily had ever heard her speak. Softer than what Emily imagined sitting on a solid cloud would be like. "I like the way this feels." A pause, and Alison leaned forward to press her lips against Emily's. Both of their bodies ignited at the feeling, and when Alison pulled away, they didn't break their gaze from each other's eyes. "I like the way that feels."

"So do I," Emily admitted, her voice small.

"So, we're on the same page," Alison whispered, smiling slightly.

Emily still wasn't so sure. "Ali… my mom would kill me…" She stopped talking as she felt Alison squeeze both of her hands with her own.

"We don't have to tell anybody, Em. Not until we both know that it's safe to tell," Alison insisted. "Emily, this is the strongest I've ever felt for someone. I don't want to lose this."

Emily nodded. "Neither do I."

There was suddenly a knock on the door, and Emily immediately jumped, pulling her hands away form Alison, who immediately glared at the door. "What?" she called to her mom.

"I have to run to the store. Do you girls need anything?" came Jessica's voice.

"No," they both called at once.

"Okay, I'll be back in an hour," Jessica told them, and they heard her foot steps receding. Alison and Emily looked back at one another, and almost by immediate and silent agreement, their lips came together in a fiery clash. First, their lips merged perfectly into each other, and then, Alison's tongue poked out of her mouth and dragged gently along Emily's lower lip. Not hesitating for a second, Emily parted her lips and moved her tongue so as to let it clash with Alison's. Clash, yes, but also twist and dance. It was practically magic.

Emily wasn't entirely sure when it was that she began to push Alison backwards, but she was completely aware when she found herself straddling the blonde. She pulled away from Alison for a moment, flipped a bit of hair out of her face, and then met her lips again. Now, their magical kiss, while still every bit as magic, became an epic battle. Emily felt every square inch of her skin burning, especially as Alison's hands slipped under her shirt and scratched over her skin. Emily bit down gently on Alison's lower lip, and the blonde released a moan—a sound Emily had never heard her best friend make before.

Every part of Emily's mind was screaming at her to do something she'd never done before, but she suddenly found herself freezing up. She pulled up off of Alison suddenly and had to turn around on the bed, looking in an other direction as she heard Alison's heavy breathing slowly even out.

Alison didn't say anything, but she sat up slowly and gently touched Emily's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I… I'm not ready…"

"Okay," Alison said softly, dragging her hand down Emily's arm to her elbow, tugging on it lightly until Emily turned to face her. The brunette looked embarrassed. Alison just smiled and lifted her hand to brush a bit of hair out of Emily's face. "I don't think I'm ready, either."

Emily seemed to relax when she heard that, and Alison was happy to have calmed her. Still, Emily didn't say anything.

Alison spoke again, "Emily, I don't know what to define us as. But I do know that you're more just my best friend, and I've never had feelings for someone like this. I want to see where this will go with you."

"What if we end up ruining our friendship?" Emily asked in a small voice, because even though she wanted this so badly, that one thought had been tugging at her. Alison smiled.

"I won't let that happen, Em. We're always going to be best friends."

After dinner that night, Emily and Alison both got ready for bed, changing into comfy pajamas. After Emily was ready, she climbed into Alison's bed and under the warm covers. She had a designated pillow at Alison's house and, considering how often she spent the nights there, it wasn't that peculiar. As soon as she laid her head down, Emily felt tiredness come over her. After the emotions she'd trekked through earlier, her head was in an exhausted state. She heard Alison come into the room from the bathroom, and the lights flickered off.

Emily was facing away from Alison's side of the bed, and she felt herself tense slightly as she felt the mattress sink slightly when Alison laid down. She still felt slightly embarrassed about her freaking out earlier, and though she was almost positive that Alison couldn't care less about it, she was still worried.

Her worries slipped away in seconds, though, when Emily felt Alison's arms encircle her waist. The blonde pulled Emily's body closer to her, until she was pretty much just spooning her. Emily let out a content sigh as she relaxed into her best friend. Alison placed a small kiss on Emily's neck and then said, "Goodnight, Emily."

"Goodnight, Ali," Emily returned softly, already feeling herself fall asleep.

Alison woke up with sun in her eyes from her window. Letting out a quiet groan, she pulled her arms out from around her best friend and forced herself up out of bed. She brushed her crazy, curly hair out of her face as she looked out the window. The sun was shining pretty brightly for a November morning. Across the yard, Alison could see the window of the neighbor's house. Spencer Hastings lived over there—Alison didn't really know her. And, Spencer didn't really know Alison. Then again, nobody did—aside from Emily.

Alison dragged her curtains over the window, and the light that had been shining through all but disappeared. She crept back over to her bed and got back in with Emily. The brunette stirred as Alison made herself comfortable again.

Emily turned over and her eyes slowly fluttered open. "Did I wake you up?" Alison whispered, raising her eyebrows slightly.

Emily shook her head. Her voice was sleepy as she asked, "Why'd you get up?"

"Window," Alison answered, smiling a shy smile. "Did you sleep well?"

Emily nodded. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Alison grinned. "You know what I'm thankful for?" Emily just smiled a little wider, waiting for Alison to just tell her. "I'm thankful that you're my best friend."

Emily didn't say anything as she stared at her best friend. She couldn't help but wonder what would become of this thing they were doing. On one hand, she could picture every aspect of her future with Alison in it—yet, she could picture them falling back into normal places as best friends as well.

"What?" Alison asked, her voice sounding shy and flustered, and Emily realized it was likely because she'd been staring. A smile immediately appeared on Emily's face.

"Nothing," Emily insisted.

"Alison! Emily!" came Jessica's call. Alison groaned, dragging herself up and off of the bed for the second time that morning. Emily just sat up, running her fingers through her slightly tangled hair.

"What?" Alison called down to her mother.

The proceeded to be called downstairs to help prepare the turkey—which would take all day to cook. Once the preparing was done—it took maybe twenty minutes tops—Jessica DiLaurentis made them some hot chocolate and told them to get some fresh air.

They spent their day in Alison's backyard, laying on the grass and wishing that it would snow. Talking about all sorts of different things. They didn't get bored at all—they were best friends after all.

During Thanksgiving dinner later that night, they didn't stop to give thanks for anything. Emily knew that it hadn't ever been a tradition in Alison's household, but it had been in Emily's, and she found herself listing all of the things that she was thankful for in her head.

Her parents.

Mrs. DiLaurentis.

Swimming.

Alison.

Mostly Alison—especially as of late. Emily had not a single idea of what her life would be like without her best friend by her side through it all.

Later that night, Emily found herself unable to think of anything but Alison—and the night before. She found herself zoned out, sitting on Alison's bed while the other girl was in the bathroom.

Alison noticed Emily's deep thought as soon as she reentered the room. "Em? You okay?"

Emily blinked, looking over at the blonde and forcing a smile. Nodding, she said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"What about?" Alison wondered, flipping off the lights and crawling into to be next to Emily. They both curled into the blankets and faced each other.

"You," Emily admitted, smiling.

Alison felt her cheeks flush slightly red, but luckily, Emily wouldn't be able to see it in the dark. Her cheeks got even more flushed, though, when she found herself asking Emily, "Can we cuddle again?"

A grin spread over Emily's face, and she and Alison cuddled together contently and drifted off to sleep.