When Alison awoke the following morning, she sighed happily at the feeling of warm arms wrapped protectively around her. There was soft breathing in her ear, the breaths were even and peaceful. Alison looked out her window, the blue sky and trees with their leaves turning was a very beautiful sight. It must've not been that early, but Alison knew she would have to get up at some point to say goodbye to the guests in her castle. She turned in bed so that she faced Emily, gently kissing her until she awoke. Emily's eyes fluttered opened and she smiled slightly down at Alison.
"Good morning." Alison said, smiling up at Emily.
"It's morning already? I'm still exhausted." Emily said, closing her eyes again.
"Well the ball went on until after midnight and we were up for probably two hours after that. Plus you tired yourself out with all that-"
"Shhh. I'm sleeping." Emily said, placing a finger to her lips, but Alison could see the tug of a smile.
"I know what will get you up." Alison said smirking. She pushed back the covers and climbed on top of Emily, feeling the cool air on her back. The covers started at her lower back, keeping her legs warm. She pushed the hair away from Emily's neck and leaned down, kissing her behind the ear and down her neck. Emily began squirming, biting down on her lip to keep from making a noise.
"Hey Alison, the guests are going to be leaving so-" The door to Alison's room suddenly and someone came in, totally catching both girls off guard. "Woah."
Alison's head snapped up and turned to the intruder. There was much scrambling as Alison jumped off of Emily and to the other side of the bed. Emily pulled the covers to her chin to cover her private areas. Alison did the same, the cover ending under her armpits.
"Ever heard of knocking?" Alison yelled, furious and embarrassed.
"I'm sorry I thought you would be up already!" Hanna said, her hands covered her face, shielding her eyes.
"You can take your hands off Hanna we are under the cover." Alison said, rolling her eyes. Alison glanced at Emily, who was beet red and looking at her hands.
"What exactly is going on in here?" Hanna asked, removing her hands and staring bewildered at the two of them. "You're marrying Noel!"
"I know Hanna! But you know I never liked him like that. I've known him since I was little and not one time had I thought of him as more than a friend." Alison explained.
"I can't believe this whole time you are supposed to be getting married to Noel, you've been having an affair with Emily?" Hanna said, a bewildered expression spread across her face.
"It's not an affair! We aren't married!" Alison protested.
"Oh but you will be! And what happens then? It will be an affair still." Hanna explained.
"Oh just shut up!" Alison said, rolling her eyes. "You don't know the half of it Hanna. Prince Noel was forced upon me, I didn't want to marry him. Emily is the first person that I've had feelings for."
"Look, I don't want you hurting Emily's feelings. She's a wonderful person." Hanna said, crossing her arms. "If this is how you want to live your life, how am I to stop you?"
"What makes you think I'll break her heart?"
"Oh Alison, have you forgotten? You are The Killer Queen you know."
With that, Hanna exited the room before Alison could tell her not to tell anyone. She looked open mouthed at Emily, who was hiding under the covers. She tugged at the covers to reveal Emily, red faced and embarrassed, utterly gorgeous with the lack of clothes.
"I'm sorry." Emily said quietly.
"What for?" Alison asked.
"What happened this morning."
"It wasn't your fault."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now let's get ready so I can say goodbye to the guests." Alison said, standing up.
She made her way towards the bathroom, smirking as she caught sight of Emily in the mirror staring at her naked figure as she walked. Finally Emily was looking at her like how she wanted, and she felt great.
As Alison said goodbye to all of her guests, she couldn't help but look at Hanna every once in a while. She wanted to make sure Hanna wasn't going to out her secret to everyone, but when she looked over she saw that Hanna was talking to Emily most of the time. There was no awkwardness between them as the two chatted enthusiastically to each other. It made Alison more and more anxious to get all of the people cleared out of her castle.
When all the people left, including Noel, the five girls decided to talk about last night's events in Alison's room.
"Guess what happened last night." Aria said, sitting down on Alison's bed. Alison sat down on her bed as well, towards where her pillows were. She caught Emily's eyes and patted the space next to her. Emily walked over and sat down next to Alison, who began to subconsciously play with Emily's hair.
"Enlighten us." Alison said, looking at Hanna, who was giving Alison a look.
"I met this super cute guy named Prince Ezra." Aria gushed, going on about his love for writing and pie.
"I think all of us had some guy time last night. Right Em? How was it being a princess for the night?" Spencer asked.
Em? Did Spencer just call Emily, Em?
"Yeah it was nice, but I do prefer helping Alison." Emily said.
"And Alison, I saw you kissing Noel." Spencer said, smiling at Alison.
"That wasn't the only person she was kissing that night." Hanna coughed.
All heads turned to Hanna, eyebrows raised. Alison's jaw hardened as she tried to give Hanna an intimidating stare without the other girls noticing.
"What do you mean by that?" Spencer asked.
"What? Oh nothing." Hanna said, acting like she hadn't said it in the first place.
The girls continued to talk, but Alison was getting more and more uncomfortable as they continued to talk. Hanna kept throwing subtle hints around, making Alison glare at her every time the girls' had their backs turned.
"Okay, as much as I would love to stay here, I have some things to do." Emily said, standing up.
"Where are you going?" Alison asked.
"Oh, just taking care of a few things." Emily said, before making her way towards the door.
Alison quickly got up and excused herself before following Emily out into the hall.
"Are you going to see your mom?" Alison asked, crossing her arms. Emily turned around and looked uncomfortably at Alison. "You don't have to that. I took care of her."
"You killed her?!" Emily said, mouth hanging open.
"No! What makes you say that?" Alison asked. Emily didn't answer, instead she gave her a look that Alison could figure out on her own. Her name after all was the Killer Queen.
"So you killed her because you didn't want me seeing her anymore?" Emily asked angrily.
"No! I gave her money! That way you wouldn't feel obligated to go see her. She isn't struggling anymore, in fact she's doing quite well." Alison said.
"Why did you give her money?" Emily asked.
"Because I felt bad ok? I felt terrible that I had taken her only daughter away from her, leaving her with Ben to help her at the bakery. I didn't want to release you from the castle, so I thought giving her money was a better option." Alison explained.
They stood there in silence for a few seconds, Emily finally broke the silence. "I still have things to do." she said, turning around and walking down the steps.
She left Alison alone in the hall with the only thing to do, walk back into her room. When she entered, all three girls were staring at her, mouths slightly opened.
"What?" Alison snapped. She looked at Hanna, who was shaking her head quickly, looking at the girls. Alison immediately picked up on what was happening. "You told them didn't you Hanna."
"I-" Hanna began.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Spencer asked.
"I think it's cute." Aria said, which was not how Alison thought she would react if she found out.
"You weren't supposed to know." Alison said, crossing her arms. "What exactly do you know?"
"Just that you and Emily have kissed before." Spencer said.
Alison looked at Hanna, she hadn't told them everything but maybe it was because Alison walked in before she could finish. "Care to explain Hanna?"
"Friends share secrets, that's what keeps them close. You said it yourself." Hanna said.
"Yeah when I was fourteen!"
"Still counts. Don't be a hypocrite." Hanna said.
Alison sighed and rubbed her temples, "Can we just get over this?"
"Well I support Alison and Emily, at least she's happy." Aria spoke up.
"Thank you Aria." Alison said.
Aria nodded and smiled, giving Alison the support she needed in that one look. With Emily gone, it seemed there was a slight tension between the girls now that they knew about what Alison and Emily had done. Alison was thankful though that Hanna hadn't mentioned what she walked in on them doing.
When the time came, Alison and Emily said goodbye to Hanna, Spencer, and Aria on their final day. Time had seemed to repair the tension between them, the topic hadn't come up since Hanna told Aria and Spencer. Alison was glad no one had mentioned it, but she and Emily hadn't even as much as stolen a kiss while the girls backs were turned, Emily seemed still thoroughly embarrassed that they had been caught and didn't want to try anything while they were there.
Alison was happy, yet sad that the girls were leaving. It reminded her of the times she used to spend with them, even if they weren't all that great. She hugged each girl when they arrived at the harbor to get on their different ships. "I'll see you at my wedding." she told them.
She waved with Emily as the ships began to sail away, the people of a Rosewood that came to watch the princesses departure also waved. When they left the harbor and made their way into the carriage.
"Finally alone." Alison said, winking at Emily, who was sitting across from her.
"Alison have you ever been apple picking?" she asked. Alison was surprised by Emily's question, but as Alison thought back, she had never been.
"No. Why?"
"September is when people in Rosewood pick their own apples, it costs less if you pick them yourself. So today, we're going to go pick apples and I'll teach you how to make an apple pie since I know you haven't touched unprepared food ever." Emily said.
"Why are you making me do this?"
"Because if you're going to teach me how to read and write, than I'm going to teach you how bake."
"Fair enough. But I deserve a prize when we're done." Alison winked.
Two hours later, Alison and Emily arrived at the apple orchard. According to Emily, people came here when they had free time and wanted to spend it with someone else. You would take a basket and pick your apples, getting them half price than if you bought them at the market. Alison remained quiet their whole walk there, looking at the beautiful orange, yellow, and red leaves. They were beautiful, almost as beautiful as Emily. Alison wondered why she never noticed their beauty until now, Emily was opening her eyes and helping her see the beauty of the world that she was blind to.
Alison, in her black wig and red coat, followed Emily as she grabbed a basket. The wind blew through their hair, making Alison nervous that her blond hair would begin to poke out. Emily handed her a basket and lead the way down the dirt path towards the apple trees with apples on them in red, yellow, and green.
"What type are we looking for?" Alison asked, looking at the red shiny apples.
"Nothing in particular, I'll let you pick." Emily said, looking around her.
"These kind are my favorite." Alison said, pointing to the shiny red apples with bumps on the bottom. They left the dirt path and approached the apple trees with the shiny red apples.
"How are we supposed to get the ones higher up?" Alison asked, looking up into the tree.
"You climb it." Emily said simply. She reached out and wrapped her hands around a branch and pulled herself up. "Come on up."
"Are you crazy?" Alison said, looking up at Emily as she climbed the tree. "No way!"
"Be a spontaneous!" Emily called down, making her way to the top.
"Oh not this again!"
"Well look what at where it got you last time." Emily said. "At least catch the apples when I throw them down."
"Fine I'm coming up." Alison said, she pushed the basket up her arm so that she could grab onto the tree with both hands.
Soon enough, Alison was at the top of the tree with Emily, picking the delicious looking apples and placing them in their baskets. Emily rubbed an apple on her dress and took a bite, listening to the satisfying crunch sound it made.
"I've never eaten an apple that way before." Alison said.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Only apples that have already been sliced." Alison said.
"Here." Emily held out the red apple. "Just take a bite like I did."
Alison took the apple from Emily and took a bite right next to where Emily took hers. It felt funny, biting into, but she heard the crunch and felt the juice in her mouth.
"Still my favorite." Alison said, after she chewed and swallowed.
They picked apples until the weight of the baskets filled. They climbed down from the current tree they were in.
"Now I'll show you how to make apple pie." Emily said as they walked to pay for their apples.
"I better be getting my reward."
"Of course, my queen."
"Stop calling me that!"
"Calling you what?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Emily laughed and leaned over, kissing Alison's forehead. "Let's go home."
"So you just dump in the sugar?"
"Yeah."
"All of it?"
"Yes."
"Ok..."
"Not so fast you're going to spill it!"
Emily and Alison had arrived in the kitchen an hour later to a confused chef. He had never in Alison's eighteen years seen her in his kitchen, but he let them use the kitchen alone without question. After all, she was the queen.
Emily had cut up the apples quickly and placed them in a bowl, allowing Emily to roll out the dough for the pie crust. Alison was in charge of pouring the sugar and other spices into the bowl of apples, which proved to be a more difficult talk than expected.
"Okay, what's next?" Alison asked.
"Cinnamon."
"How much?"
"About a teaspoon sounds good." Emily said as she laid the pie crust into the pie plate. Alison continued adding the spices that Emily gave her, carefully pouring in the appropriate amounts. She mixed them together and poured the apples into the pie plate. Emily placed the top pie crust on and put the pie in oven.
"How long will it take?" Alison asked.
"About an hour."
"Perfect." Alison said, smiling.
"Why?"
"Because I want my prize, and that's you." Alison said, pulling Emily by the hand towards her. Emily smiled before Alison pulled her into a kiss, kissing until the pie was ready.