The blonde looked at her the brunette and couldn't help but smile. Her best friend got the coaching position at Rosewood high and Ali was beyond proud. She knew it would be hard seeing Emily with her girlfriend Paige however she knew that it was her fault that she wasn't with Emily right now, she knew that she should have told her how she felt weeks ago but she was scared and still is even though her heart aches every day for the love of her life.

Seeing Emily so happy coaching just made a grin appear on her face without her even noticing but as soon as Paige, the assistant coach, came up to her the grin disappeared and in its place a pain in her chest appeared like her heart was really breaking. Ali walked back to her class with her head down, it surprised her how much one moment could change her mood so quickly but then again it was Emily. She could brighten Ali's day by just saying a simple hi.

She walked over to her desk and tried to focus on the 'To Kill a Mockingbird' essays she had to mark however the scene of Paige walking over to Emily and touching her arm which caused the brunette to smile hurt her much more than she though it ever could and it just wouldn't leave her mind.

Luckily a student came in to ask for help which completely took her mind off of what happened. After an hour and a half the student left and her mind wondered back to Emily but before she could beat herself up for not telling Emily how she felt the brunette walked through the door.

"Hey." Emily said with a bright smile on her face. Ali mirrored the smile as she got up and walked round to the front of her desk.

"Hi, what's up?"

"Paige and I are going out for lunch and I was wondering if you wanted to come with us?" The blonde tried her best not to squint at the sound of Paige's name however considering that Emily didn't say anything she thought she done a pretty good job.

"I'd love to but I have a full stack of essays to mark, sorry." Ali said nodding to the large stack of papers on her desk.

"Oh, maybe next time then?" Emily said with a slightly disappointed smile. Ever since she had gotten with Paige, Ali and her started seeing each other less and less which caused them to drift which they both realised and hated.

"Sure." Ali said with a hopeful smile. Emily walked out the classroom and Ali's heart sunk. She wished she could go but seeing Emily happy with someone else would kill her even though she is beyond happy that Emily is finally happy.

The hours until she finished work seemed to take years and years but finally when that bell rang she rushed out her classroom and straight to her car and to The Brew.

She grabbed her favourite cappuccino from the menu and sat at the very back in a quiet corner where the only thing that could bother her were her thoughts. Well, boy was she wrong. The blonde begun to think about the fact that it is finally time to move on from Emily and just as Alison closed her eyes to try make her headache go -which her thoughts brought about- go away suddenly an unfamiliar voice spoke to her.

"Hey, you alright?" A young and tall brunette asked. She had long brown hair and brown eyes with lightly tanned skin which glowed under the lamp hanging above Ali's table.

"Um yeah, I'm… I'm fine. Thank you." Ali said with a smile on her face.

"No problem, I'm Ashley by the way."

"Alison," Ali said with an intriguing smile on her face. "Do you want to sit with me?"

"Sure." Ashley said as she pulled a chair over.

"Are you new to Rosewood, I've never seen you around and I'm sure I'd notice you." Ali blushed as she realised what had just left her mouth but Ashley just giggled.

"Yeah I am, I moved just a few days ago from New York."

"Why Rosewood if I may ask?"

"I'm actually a writer and I wanted to move somewhere unfamiliar for inspiration."

"Wow, that's great."

"So what do you do, Alison?"

"I'm an English teacher at Rosewood High." Ali smiled at the all the things that they had in common.

The hours went buy with them talking and laughing but just as Ashley was touching Ali's arm Emily walked in. The sight of Alison with someone she didn't even recognise seemed to hurt her even though she thought she had managed to get over Alison and move on. The sight made her want to leave straight away and so she did. For some reason -which Emily most definitely knew but would never admit- jealousy completely took over.

"I should probably get going but here's my number, you should call me sometime." Ashley said as she wrote her number on a napkin.

"I definitely will." Ali said with a smile as she took the napkin.

The next day Alison was most definitely in a better mood and Emily couldn't help but notice that.

"You're very cheery today." Emily said popping her head into Ali's classroom.

"Yeah I am." Ali said with a smile on her face as she remembered the person she met last night.

"Is that anything to do with that mysterious brunette you met at The Brew last night?" Emily said with an intrigued tone as she walked into the class. The blondes face turned bright red as she filled with embarrassment.

"I'll take that as a yes." Emily said forcing a teasing smile on her face because that hurt her more that it should have. She thought she had moved one, she thought that everything was great with Paige and that she loved her but something in her mind was telling her otherwise. However she didn't listen to that voice, she just told herself that it was the protective side of her coming out.

"Her name is Ashley and she's really nice." The blonde as she avoided Emily's gaze, she couldn't bear to look the love of her life in the eyes and tell her that she had possibly found someone else.

Just to both of their luck the first period bell rang and they managed to avoid the rest of the conversation that they both did not want to go through.

"Well um I'll see you later." Emily said before walking out the class without even listening to what Ali said. As she walked down the busy corridor her thoughts wondered back to her feelings, she knew she would never admit to herself that she was still in love with the blonde however she knew somewhere deep down she still did with all her heart and that she always would.

2 WEEKS LATER

Ali and Ashley had now been dating for two whole weeks and after all that time it still bothered and made Emily jealous. Things with Paige started to go downhill since Paige started realising that something was going on with the brunette whenever she seen Ali and Ashley together. Paige had never liked Ali however since she got together with Emily she tried accept her more since she found out the hard way that they will always be very close best friends no matter what.

After a long day at work Ali decided to go to The Brew to relax as she walked her eyes straight away fell to the brunette who was sitting arguing with Paige. She hadn't seen Emily this angry in a long time and what surprised her was that she wasn't trying to get the situation under control like she used to do during an argument.

"You're still in love with her! You just used me; you needed me to try get over her. Do you even love me?" Paige said raising her voice more than she knew she should have.

"I do love you and Ali is my best friend, I'm looking out for her."

"I don't believe you, you're just being jealous because you still love her. Do not come home tonight, don't even try to." Paige said as she got up and begun to leave. Ali quickly turned backwards so that she wouldn't see her and then walked out the coffee shop as fast as she could.

She sat in her car thinking about what Paige said and about Emily's reaction or more like the lack there of. It seemed to Ali as though Emily knew she was in love with her but didn't want to admit it to Paige or herself and so she tried to argue but she just couldn't lie. As the blonde got lost in her thoughts her phone suddenly buzzed, it was a message from Emily.

'Can I please stay at yours tonight? It's a long story.'

Hesitantly she replied with a 'yes' and with that she drove home.

Half an hour after Ali got home Emily arrived and the blonde was still considering whether to tell the brunette about her hearing her and Paige's converstion.

"Hey." Emily said with a half-smile.

"You OK?" Ali asked as she let the brunette in.

"I think Paige and I broke up." Emily said honestly knowing that it was pointless to lie.

"I need to be honest with you; I heard you two arguing at The Brew." Ali said looking down. Emily could feel herself turning red.

"Well then I guess you know what or rather who it was over." Ali nodded her head as the statement left Emily's mouth.

"I'm sorry, Em."

"Don't be, it's my fault… everything she said was true." Ali's heart skipped a beat when she heard what Emily said.

"I'm not over you and I honestly don't think I ever will no matter how hard I try." Emily said looking down at her feet not being able to bear seeing the blonde's reaction but when she felt a pair of hands cup her cheeks and soft lips hit her mouth she realised that her dream reaction had actually came true. As soon as she realised what was going on she kissed the blonde back and put her hands on Ali's hips. Eventually they pulled away but kept their foreheads touching.

"I've waited a long time for you to tell me that and for me to be able to tell you that I feel the same way." A huge grin appeared on Emily's face.

"Wait, what about Ashley?"

"I was just trying to get over you and I think she'll understand." The grin that disappeared once the name left her mouth reappeared at Ali's words.

"I love you, Alison." The blonde grew a huge smile as she heard the three special words and kissed the brunette. Finally, after all this time they realised that they were complete because they were really, really happy and not just pretending to be happy.