AN: Hi there! Did you miss me? *fingers crossed that no one would say no*
Ah! First chapter of the year but yes, I still made numerous mistakes in this one. I'll fix them when I find out though so forgive me then? :)
Thank you for all of reviews and follows and favorites. I know it's just a simple thing to you but it means so much to me. I'll try my best to give you what you deserve. If it's not good enough, you can tell me.
*whisper* Did you notice that the chapters keep getting longer after each one? Does this make you uncomfortable? If it does, I'm sorry but I couldn't fix it. I tend not to control their lengths.
Thank you again for your patience! :)
You love Spemily and I love you.
Pretty Little Liars is not mine. If it's mine, you'll know. (Full of Spemily of course)
Two weeks after Spencer's mom and sister visiting, our lovebirds officially had been through the first month of being a couple according to the contract. Things backed to normal. Like really normal. The coffee shop owner started to be a coffee shop owner again and the writer, well, she started to be a writer like usual. They barely met each other. The younger girl had to work at her place from six am to nine pm. It was spring and her shop lately had more customers than before. They hadn't known of the shop for her coffee, they knew about this place for her reputation, the one who got lucky to be Spencer Hastings's wife. She didn't complain though. It was good for her business but she needed to hire someone because working alone and dealing with the press were a little hard.
On the other hand, the writer still stayed at home, in her office and tried to think of something to write. It sounded less strenuous than working at a coffee shop. But it didn't. Our incredible writer was a little… bored. Spending two busy months on her wedding kept her mind occupied with lots of things. Now sitting right here and had nothing to think were miserable. Plus, having Emily as company was… fun and less… lonely than the life she had led. And now the girl was nowhere to be found. Okay she was just at her shop but it was far away and even when she came back, she didn't say anything to the light brown eyes girl. Not that she being rude or something, the dark brown eyes girl was tired after a long day and all she wanted was a nice sleep. A sleep which she could only get in a bed room. Her bed room. The room which obviously didn't have Spencer's presence.
Spinning on her chair, Spencer looked at the ceiling and then smirked.
"I have to change that."
Just for fun.
Dialing some numbers after took her phone off the table, the light brown eyes girl spoke.
"Toby, I need you to do something for me."
Today was a busy day at "Be my forever". It was Saturday and the place got crazier each minute. Emily had to run around like she was in a competition. The coffee shop owner kept getting orders and delivering them to every one while people yelling at her for being late. Like that wasn't enough. There was a small group of men and women trying to ask about her life with the famous writer. The poor girl was about to explore. Fortunately, Toby walked in in the last minute. The man didn't come alone, he brought two boys and two girls who immediately replaced Emily's positions. They took orders, made coffees and delivered them. It happened in a blink and everything was settled. No one was yelling and the press was politely asked to come to the writer interview later by the manager.
Toby and Emily were now sitting at the table near a big window. Glancing over the place once more, the girl looked back to her friend, smiling.
"Thank you, Toby. I thought I was gonna be insane. You're so thoughtful."
The manager smiled back, his smiled had a hint of sly. He hadn't seen Emily for a long time and he missed his friend so much. Well, he had been a little worried though. The brunette was sweet, nice, naive. And the writer, um, she was kind of evil sometimes. He was worried sick on day two of the girls honeymoon. He thought Spencer might make his "absolutely not evil" friend cry already. After all, they just got married by contract. The light brown eyes girl could do anything to get what she wanted. Anything. She was Spencer Hastings. Spencer Hastings always got what she desired.
Anyway, that was what Toby thought. And he was wrong. He had come over their house multiple times while Emily was at work and Spencer showed nothing near the "annoying sign" when he had brought the honeymoon topic to their conversations. Frankly, she had been talkative and smiling the whole time she was talking about it. It was a good sign. A really good sign. Toby claimed that this was just maybe because the air in Paris or the trip made Spencer change a little. He reckoned that Paris did something to her. He had been thinking like that since the last time he visited their place.
Until the writer called, he knew he was wrong. Again. The light brown eyes girl, the cocky writer, the heartless Spencer who hadn't cared for no one but her family and true friends, which included only Aria and himself practically called him to say "take care of Emily for me". Apparently, the girl knew that the dark brown eyes girl was really busy and tired of working too much. She asked Toby to find some helpers for the dark brown eyes girl and also get rid of the paparazzo. The man was shock. That gesture was… nice. This must be the first time in five years that the writer had asked Toby to work for someone but herself. Spencer cared about someone again. Someone new. Someone different.
You're different, Emily. I've always known that.
The manager had spaced out for ten minutes and the coffee shop owner didn't interrupted. It was because of the smile on his face. He looked so genuine and happy and satisfied with the situation. The only person Emily knew that would be happy for her was Hanna and now she just found the second one. Since the day they met, he was always by her side. Even though he knew about the contract, he didn't treat her any different. Emily was glad, not only for herself but also for Spencer.
The girl nonchalantly spoke out loud without knowing it, still smiling.
"Spencer's so lucky to have a friend like you."
The coffee shop owner's voice took Toby back to reality. Realizing he forgot to tell the truth, the manager replied gushily.
"No, no, no. No. I didn't do anything. I…"
"Oh c'mon. You just saved me from becoming crazy lady. Don't say like you did nothing." The brunette shove his shoulder playfully, assuming he was being modest.
"No, I meant it. I really have nothing in this. It's all Spencer. She called me to find some people to help you." Toby said, his voice was in a rush.
It took a really, really long time for Emily to process his words. Her eyebrow furrowed, her eyes fixed on his face, her mouth slightly opened.
"She did?"
The girl kept asking "why?" in her head but she definitely couldn't answer. Why a person like Spencer did something so nice to her. They was basically strangers and couldn't bring themselves to call them friends. Plus, they barely spent time to see or talk to each other for weeks. Emily thought that things would be like this till the end, that they would live in silent till the day they get divorced and that they would keep the promise not to even saying hi when they meet on the street. So what was the purpose of this? What was Spencer thinking? Was this just her being nice or another tease she's trying to do? So many questions but all she needed was answer the biggest one.
"Why?" The dark brown eyes girl's curiousness took over her mind and let her mouth spill her thoughts.
Toby was still smiling the whole time. He knew Emily had some effects on Spencer. He knew Emily could change his friend someday. He knew Emily could bring the writer happiness. He knew so much things that Emily could do for the light brown eyes girl but Emily didn't know it. That was also the reason he loved her. She was so busy seeing good in people that she forgot to see it in her. The girl was precious. Spencer needed to keep her. He needed to help Spencer keep her.
"She knows you're tired of all this so she tries to help. Now you can be free from here and just have to pass by a few times a day to check everything. You can use that free time to do stuffs you love or just stay at home and enjoy your time." The manager hid his chuckle while saying the last part. He was implicating "enjoy your time… with Spencer". Toby coughed, trying to cover his chuckle, continued. This time, his face was serious. "She cares about you."
Emily understood what Toby was saying. She just didn't get it. Something felt so wrong here. All the things her friend said made sense and didn't make sense at the same time. Okay she needed to buy a new brain, there might be some errors with this one.
"But why?" An "I have no clue what's going on" Emily asked again.
"Oh and she wants you to come home early today to prepare for friends meeting tomorrow." Toby responded, ignoring Emily's question. He too didn't know how to answer that.
The information our manager just gave was true. There would be a friends meeting tomorrow and Spencer did want Emily to come home early. It just that two those things have nothing to do with each other. The writer just wanted the coffee shop owner come home early. That was all. No reason. Yes, no reason.
"What friends meeting? I didn't hear anything from her." Of course you didn't, you hadn't even seen Spencer for days.
"The one with Aria and Hanna. She wants to surprise you." Toby replied innocently.
The innocence written all over his face. He just did what be told. And at that moment, the dark brown eyes girl knew that she would never get any good answer from this man to satisfy her questions.
What are you up to, Spencer Hastings?
Did you feel something was wrong here? Yeah, I kinda felt it too. Oh, right. The friends meeting with Aria and Hanna. Where were these two at in the last two weeks? Why had Hanna and Aria been beaten by Veronica in "visiting the married couple" competition? The answer was quite simple though.
Aria just simply got back to work. She's a photographer and also an art teacher sometimes if she was free. The tiny girl and her husband took their baggage and went to places that she thought might content potentials to have beautiful shoots. The trip ending wasn't planned due to her artistic temperament but she willingly immediately dropped her journey after receiving a call from her best friend.
On the other hand, after the wedding, Hanna knew she couldn't handle a full week not talking to Emily so she signed up to a one week business trip which accidentally turned out to be a one month business trip since her customers loved her new clothes collection so much that they wanted to keep her a little longer. It was torture but Hanna knew that if Emily was there she would talk the girl to accept that invitation. The girl was on her way back when Spencer called her. It was a really, really short conversation for Spencer though.
Hi, Hanna. It's Spencer.
"Spencer Hastings?"
Yeah, I just wonder if you can come…
"Yes."
Ove…
"Yes."
Tomor…
"Yes, yes. A thousand yess. Oh my god, you don't even have to ask. I'm gonna go to your house tomorrow anyway. It's been a long time and I really missed my Emily. Not that I didn't miss you but… okay I didn't miss you but I have some words I want you to listen though. And…"
Beep, beep, beep.
That was pretty much everything the writer had done to set this friends meeting up. Her work wasn't hard though. All she had to do was ask and the girls just rolled with it. They didn't have any question for her. Unfortunately, those were just one side of the circumstance. On the other side was Emily who waiting for the light brown eyes girl respond to the "not so difficult but couldn't know how to reply" question. The coffee shop owner actually came home early when she heard Toby's words. She was curious of the things Spencer did and she was sure she wanted to satisfy her curiousness as soon as possible. The girl had just asked what the writer was doing and didn't get any reply. Spencer was trying hard to pretend tidying up her living room while thinking a way to lie to a "getting more frustrated each minute" Emily.
"As you can see, I'm cleaning my living room and it will be helpful if you start to clean the kitchen." The light brown eyes girl answered, her voice stayed calmer than she thought.
"That's not what I meant." Emily raised her voice. Okay, she was mad.
"You just asked me what I was doing, right? I didn't mishear anything, right?" Spencer replied, put on her playing dumb face.
"Yes, but…"
"Okay then, I did nothing wrong." She smirked, trying to jump in fast in order to cut Emily processing thoughts.
Maybe next time it would work. This time it didn't. The dark brown eyes girl responded almost in a rush as if she was afraid the writer would cut her words again.
"I meant why did you help me? Help me with the coffee shop work, the press? We literally haven't spoken in two weeks so why of a sudden you feel the need to care about me?"
Her voice echoed in the big living room. It was so powerful that Spencer had to stop her tidying thing and turned around to face the girl.
You already have the answer in that sentence, Emily.
Of course our writer would not say that. Not in a thousand years. Instead, she hissed, raising one eyebrow, using a playfully tone, spoke.
"Honey, for the last time, I don't care about you. I want my friend to come over but that would be odd if I didn't invite yours too. And it would be insane if you couldn't be here to meet them because of your coffee shop business. I do this one and for all. Getting you some helpers will be more useful for the next friends meeting instead of asking you to have a day off. I'm the smart one here, remember?"
Sometimes I really hate you, Spencer. Our Emily was speechless. Guess what? Toby lied. Oh wait. Toby was wrong. Emily was wrong. The writer didn't care about her. The light brown eyes girl just finished what made her more comfortable. Helping the coffee shop owner was just one of steps she had to do to ease the situation. Emily believed that. Emily knew that. She knew that from the beginning. She never had a second thought about it. She shouldn't have a second thought about it. How could Spencer Hastings care about a stranger like her? The fact was shining like the sun since the contract had signed but somehow, this time it hurt the dark brown eyes girl. It hurt a little or maybe she just imagined it. But she was sure she felt something different this time. Her heart did some weird things and now she had the urge to hug her chest yet she fought against it. She didn't want Spencer to see any change in her appearance. Spencer shouldn't know this. Spencer shouldn't know her heart had some negative reaction to the first few words the writer had said.
"I'll clean the kitchen."
The dark brown eyes girl muttered, her voice seemed lifeless. Our poor girl avoided eyes contact with Spencer and headed quickly to the kitchen.
It was the writer's turn to be speechless. She swore she recognized something familiar from the tanned girl's eyes. Something she had seen in the coffee shop that day. Something hurt. Something broken. That must be wrong. She didn't insult romance or people who love romance. She didn't mock her for her terrible French. She didn't tease her for giving compliments about her. She did nothing this time. She wasn't guilty this time. So what made the younger girl's eyes spoke the language that gave Spencer the need to embrace her immediately? All the words she said had nothing to hurt the girl.
She doesn't like friends meeting? No, she loves Hanna and Aria.
She doesn't like to be helped? No, Toby said on the phone that Emily is pleased with her new employees.
She doesn't like it when I call I'm the smart one? No, she's my fan. Of course I'm being smart has nothing unacceptable.
Think, Spencer. Think.
Then something popped up in her head. Like a brighten star. The only potential sentence that could be wrong in her dialogue was the first one which was also the biggest lie she had said today.
She doesn't like it when I don't care about her?
It was time for the friends meeting. Emily and Spencer knew that something unusual had happened the day before but no one tried to bring it up. Bringing something unusual up to solve it might release more unexpected information. And you know, not every unexpected thing is good. It wasn't worth the risk.
They settled to be like normal couple. A couple that didn't have to sign a contract two months before their wedding. A couple that slept on the same bed every night. A couple that wasn't afraid to care about the other. Today they had to be that couple. Nobody in this house had been through an acting class but somehow they managed to act better than any professional actor. Well, that was unavoidable because their friends were anything but ordinary people. Friends have so many effects and affects in our life but if the friendship level reaches that standard which you are even happier than your best friend when they finally found their love, you could have the ability to read their mind. Both Aria and Hanna were that kind of best friends. And of course both Spencer and Emily knew that. Things occurred last night ought to stay in the dark. They couldn't let anything to ruin their show. This had to be the best show that they would ever perform.
Putting on the happy face, Spencer opened the door to reveal a grinning Hanna and a chuckling Aria. Apparently, the blonde just said something funny and the tiny girl was laughing at it. Our writer was about to ask but Hanna turned her head and saw Spencer. Well, actually, she saw the door was opened. The blue eyes girl pushed the door open wider and walked in instantly.
"Where's she?"
Hanna asked, looking around to find any hint of her beloved best friend, ignored a shocking Spencer.
"Hi, Hanna. It's nice to see you too. Come in." Speaking in a sarcastic tone, the writer let Aria walked in and closed the door behind her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hi you too. Where's she?" The girl spoke again, her patient got lighter and lighter.
The writer rolled her eyes, frustrated because of the impolite girl. She didn't even know she was impolite. She now was staring at Spencer, using her last patient to not grabbing the other girl by her collar to get the answer. Seeing the look on Hanna's face, the light brown eyes girl gave in. It was definitely not the time to give any lecture about being polite.
"In the kitchen." Spencer sighed.
The blonde was gone the minute those words left the writer's lips. She headed right away to where the kitchen was. Realizing she didn't say hi to Aria, Spencer turned around and gave her friend a hug. As they pulled away, the tiny girl was about to speak when they heard a loud noise in the kitchen. Like some metal had dropped on the floor. Worried that the girls was in danger, Spencer and Aria ran immediately to where they were to find a scene, well, not so dangerous.
Apparently, the blue eyes girl hugged Emily so sudden that the girl dropped her knife while cooking meal. Emily still didn't know what was going on because her brain was about to run out of oxygen. The blonde's embrace was so tight that Emily had a hard time to figure out a new way of breathing.
"Oh my god, Emily. I've missed you so much. The trip sucked when I couldn't even call you once. I have so many things to tell you. Oh, well, I believe you have some too since you're now Mrs. Hastings. I planned to come by right after I came back from the airport but Spencer called me first. I was surprised that it was her but not you. By the way, I think her phone was broken. We was on the phone and I was in the middle of my sentences and there was that "beep" sounds and the phone was canceled and…"
"Han, Han. Hanna. Please, breathe! Please!" Emily interrupted her best friend. She already had a vision of an ambulance car in Spencer's drive way.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just so happy to see you. It's so hard to live without you." The blonde breathed slowly, followed Emily's lead.
Amused by the scene, Aria chuckled again. She really loved the friendship between these two. Sometimes they were like sisters and sometimes they were like couple. A clumsy one and a thoughtful one. What a perfect match! Glancing over at Spencer, the artist found the writer was leaning against the door, tried to hide her smile. She knew why though. Just a minute earlier Hanna had been quite rude and the writer probably didn't like her right that moment. But now seeing her all being cute with Emily made the light brown eyes girl delighted more than she thought. Plus, the rude thing was just because Hanna missed Spencer's wife so much that she couldn't control herself to cross the line between "not so close" people. Aria raised an eyebrow, spoke playfully.
"You can smile if you want, you know?"
"What do you…"
Didn't let the writer finish her sentence, the tiny girl gave her a "you know what I mean" look. Spencer knew that look. She knew she was caught. Trying once last time to conceal her mood again, she stared back at the friendship scene. Bad idea. She failed. Her lips broke into a smile and it even got wider when she saw Emily's smile. Yeah, the warmest smile she had ever seen. It had been a long time since she saw that smile. The last time was when they were in Paris. The tanned girl smiled a lot back then. Well, of course, it was her favorite city. But Spencer was sure the best smile of Emily in Paris was the one on the Seine River. The one Spencer captured in the sunset and the wind. The one that Spencer secretly chose to be her favorite honeymoon's smiles. The one that gave Spencer a desire to put the photo of that time in her phone though she was a little confused when she did it.
Spencer was smiling like an idiot for five minutes and Aria couldn't find it in her heart to stop her best friend. She was sure the smile started with Hanna and Emily's friendship but now she knew the smile was for something different. Something nice. Something loveable. Something belonged to someone. Someone who had a letter "E" in her name. Spencer definitely was smiling about Emily.
"You're totally in love, Spencer."
Aria spoke nonchalantly, she didn't mean to say that out loud but the words just found their way to escape. Her voice cut the writer's thoughts and the information in her words snapped Spencer's head hard that she let out her protestation.
"What? No."
"No?" The artist eye's widened, her face full of surprise.
"Yes. No. I mean no. Wait. I mean yes. Yes. I mean yes." Spencer stuttered, just remembered she wasn't allowed to tell the truth. Or lie. Okay this's a little complicated for me.
"Are you hiding something?" The tiny girl raised her voice, her eyes narrowed. She wasn't sure if Spencer was hiding something or not but the writer's reaction was quite weird to her.
Seemed like Aria spoke louder than she thought. Her question interrupted Hanna's rambling and caught both girls' attentions. Emily looked up to see Spencer was in trouble with her beloved best friend. Sure that the writer would have already had a way to escape the hole she just dug but Emily didn't let the light brown eyes girl lie. She herself knew how hard it was to lie to her best friend. The coffee shop owner saved the older girl, she put on a smile and raised her voice softly while approaching the tiny girl.
"Hi, Aria. I'm sorry I didn't see you there. How are you?"
The artist let her guard down and hugged Emily back. Let's say the dark brown eyes girl had successfully distracted her friend.
"It's okay and I'm fine. Can't believe it's been a month since the wedding. I haven't seen you guys for so long." Aria replied innocently while pulling away from the tanned girl.
Seeing a perfect opportunity to help Spencer get out of her hole, Emily grinned, grabbed Aria's hand and responded while dragging her far away from the light brown eyes girl.
"I know, right? C'mon, we have a lot to talk about. You can help me prepare for the meal while I get to know you. You know, I think Spencer's afraid I may steal her best friend or something. She mentioned very little about you even though I know she loves you a lot…"
As the two girls was about to start their kitchen duties, Hanna gestured for the writer to come to the living room with her. A little confused but our writer willingly followed the blonde. She was glad that she didn't lie to Aria thank to the coffee shop owner and anything that bring her as far as possible from the kitchen right now would be great.
The blue eyes girl suddenly stopped in half way made the light brown eyes girl bump into her. Spencer's eyebrow furrowed as she was going to snap at the girl. Our writer's mouth opened to speak when Hanna turned around, her face looked dead serious.
"You're in trouble, Spencer."
Emily was now checking her dinner once last time while Aria was putting plates on table. The dark brown eyes girl turned to look at her tiny friend then decided to break the silent.
"I'm sorry I lie." Her voice was soft.
Looking back at Spencer's wife, Aria was confused. They didn't talk much since they started preparing their dinner. What was that lie Emily's talking about?
"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Well, I've already finished most of the works. I just wanted to keep you here to talk and, you know, get to know each other." Emily replied sincerely, a weak smile crept onto her face.
The artist sighed in relieve. For a moment she thought there must be something serious was going on. The tanned girl apologized for a small little lie was unexpected. Well, she knew not so much about Emily. Of course everything she did was unexpected. The coffee shop owner was right. They should get to know each other. She should get to know Emily.
"Oh thank God! I was worried that you might say you lie about being married with Spencer or something." Aria responded playfully to ease the guilt in the other girl for lying.
Ha. How ironic! You're definitely not helping Aria. Our liar was struggling to fight back her guilt which was growing bigger and bigger in her stomach. She faked a chuckled but still remained silent, had no idea what to say.
Assumed that the coffee shop owner was shy, Aria made their first move.
"You and Hanna seem pretty close." She smiled while saying this, recalled the scene had happened in this room earlier.
"Yes, we are. She's my best friend since we were in kindergarten. It's been a long time, I lost lots of things, people, but she's still there for me. She said I'm gonna stuck with her forever." A genuine smile broke on Emily's lips when she remembered Hanna's words. The blonde was the only one person hadn't done and would never do anything to hurt her.
"Aw, I really like you girls' friendship. It's really cute to know that there's someone could handle a dork like Hanna. I can see you have to be really patient sometimes." The tiny girl joked, amused by the new information about Emily.
"Then you have to meet Caleb, he's Hanna husband. His patience's beyond the reach of this world." The dark brown eyes girl joined Aria's joke.
They both laughed at the topic about Hanna goofiness. It was really easy to make conversations between them. Both girls knew that they could say anything without being judged. As the laughter died down, Emily continued.
"What about you and Spencer?"
"Well, we're best friends since high school. I didn't like her at first though. She seemed pretty up tight to me. We were set to be partners in chemistry and then guess who realized she was wrong. This girl." The artist pointed at herself, smiling. "Turn out, she's the best person I've ever met on this planet. I couldn't ask for any one better than her." The girl was still smiling but this time her smile had a huge sign of proud.
Aria was nice. Really nice. And if a girl like her said Spencer was the best then Spencer must be the best. Even though the writer had an evil side and could sometimes act like an asshole, she absolutely had a good personality. Put as side her cockiness, her cold appearance, her sarcasm, her big pride,… Okay that was a lot but kept going, just tried to put them as side, you could see an ordinary girl who was broken inside but still managed to care for people who matter. Emily saw that. Emily saw good in Spencer. At this point, our coffee shop owner didn't see the light brown eyes girl as a famous writer anymore. She saw a girl trying to stay strong after had been beaten by incidents in life. The girl was trying so hard that she forgot she was only human. Human could feel. Human could cry. Human could love. Hiding all of the emotions through years must be tortures. Especially for someone who hadn't had a "real" family since all of the family meetings were about winning. Emily wasn't mad at Spencer for last night anymore. Well, she of course also didn't have the right to but whatever. She secretly forgave the light brown eyes girl already. It was okay if Spencer didn't care about her. After all, they were just strangers. Okay maybe it hurt a little. Just a little. But it was fine. The important thing was knowing who Spencer really was inside and Emily thought she just figured that out. Inside Spencer wasn't any of "the Spencer" the girl was showing. Inside Spencer was a girl who needed to be healed, to be cared, and to be loved.
Someone should love this girl as soon as possible.
I have a bad feeling about this. About me.
The tanned girl smiled sheepishly with her thoughts. Her bad feeling might be, well, bad but somehow a tiny butterflies grew in her stomach that made her smile got wider every minute.
Aria saw that. It was just like a Déjà vu. The scene in front of her was exactly what she had seen in the kitchen door earlier that day. Except the one who was with her this time was Emily. The artist was glad though. She might feel suspicious before but now she completely believed her friend was in a happy marriage with an adorable person. It was quite shameful that she had to interrupt Emily's sheepishness. The tiny girl cleared her throat to catch the tanned girl's attention.
The coffee shop owner snapped back to our planet. She flinched a little because of Aria's sudden voice but then she smiled, raised her voice.
"Okay, tell me about you then?"
"Me? Okay. I'm Aria Montgomery but you knew that." The tiny girl chuckled then continued. "I'm a photographer and teach art sometimes. My husband's Ezra. You may know him as Ezra Fitz, he's a poet and also an English teacher." Her voice full of joy when she mentioned the love of her life.
"Wow, an artist family. I have to admit it's a shame cause most of books I've read are Spencer's. But you know what, I'll look for his books next time when I go to the book store." Emily responded, impressed by her new discovery.
"That would be nice."
Aria spoke with a huge smile on her face. She only had Spencer as her best friend and that friend really hated romance. Maybe she hated it less than before but Ezra's poems were always full of love stories that he wrote from everything Aria had been giving him every day. There was no way that Spencer could give it a look. And there was Hanna who had potential to be her new best friend but she just found out this morning that if the girl didn't read fashion magazines, she definitely was reading detective stories. That was a weird fact but anyway, it left Emily. Now she knew where to come when Ezra wrote new poems and where to come when she wanted to brag about her amazing husband.
The artist regained her gesture and looked back at the coffee shop owner to find that she wanted to say something. The tanned girl gave Aria a hesitant look and quickly flicked her eyes back to the floor, no words came out from her lips.
"What?" Aria asked, delivered an encourage smile to her new friend.
"I… um, I'm just wondering, well, since you're a photographer, you must know a lot about photography then?" Emily paused, waiting for the other girl to nod and continued. "On our honeymoon in Paris, there was numerous beauty scenes to shoot and of course I tried to capture all of them so one day I could recall that wonderful city once again. I copied all photos from Spencer's camera to my computer and did some research to make the photos look better. But I'm only an amateur so… you know, can you help me with it?" As she finished her answer, Emily brought out her laptop which was on the table in the room's corner.
The tiny girl rolled her eyes. Emily was so sweet. She didn't believe the girl had a really hard time to find her words just for asking her a small favor like this.
"Of course I'll help you, silly. Next time you just need to ask directly. It's okay. I don't bite, you know." Aria replied, playfully shoved Emily's shoulder.
The coffee shop owner grinned while opening her laptop to select her photo's folder. Waiting for the tanned girl doing her work, Aria gazed in rapture at Emily. She then decided to spoke again.
"Just to make sure you'll ask me with no fear next time, I announce, you are officially my new best friend." Taking her time to give Emily a loving smile, Aria raised her voice. "I'll take care of you just like the way I do with Spencer. That means, well, you're kinda stuck with me forever." She chuckled with her own joke when she mimicked Emily's voice earlier about Hanna's words.
A bigger smile stretched a line on Emily's lips, she inhaled and exhaled deeply then replied, still smiling.
"You're kinda stuck with me forever, too."
The two girls just found someone they could fully trust again. Well, of course if you left out the contract thing. Anyway, in ages like this, it's really hard to find a best friend though. Their innocence is lost and most of them care more about their friend's money, status, reputation… They make friends base on those factors and obviously there is no sincerity in their relationships. Having an opportunity to have a best friend means you're very lucky. You should keep them, grab them and put them in a box, don't let them go. Okay ignore that last part.
Moving on. Well, let's say the scene in the kitchen was quite touching. Meanwhile in the living room, things seemed kind of the opposite.
"Wh… what do you mean I'm in trouble?" Spencer stuttered but her face remained calm.
Did she know about the contract?
Emily told her?
Damn it, Emily! What did I say about not telling anyone?
I'll…
"You're married to Emily." Hanna answered, her eyes didn't blink.
Hanna words cut the writer thoughts. She just replied her question and yet our writer still didn't know what she was talking about.
'True, so?" Her eyebrows furrowed, stating to get annoyed by the sudden lack of words from Hanna.
"So you have to deal with me!" The blue eyes girl stated, still ignored Spencer's annoyance look
The information the blonde just gave only drove the light brown eyes girl crazy. Nothing she had asked got satisfied by those answers. The writer raised her voice, snapped, her calmness was gone.
"Damn it, Hanna. Can you just give me the full story already? You were practically rambling to Emily and why the hell all of your words are on holiday when you're talking with me?"
The girl rolled her blue eyes, slowly took out a black notebook, taking notes and speaking at the same time.
"Have issue with anger, minus five points. Not so patient and gently with friend, minus five points."
"What the hell?" Spencer muttered, this time she was the "I have no clue what's going on" Emily.
Hanna put her notebook back to her purse, looked back at Spencer. The girl in front of our writer wasn't Hanna anymore. Spencer didn't see any clumsiness, any gushiness, any dumbness, any… Hanna in there. Her serious face made Spencer feel a little scared but she tried to stay composed. The blonde raised her voice, tried to keep it at the level she was sure Emily couldn't hear.
"I'm Emily's guardian. I'm her angel. I'm her protector. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool my best friend, you're dead freakin' meat. Get it?"
The light brown eyes girl slightly figured out what Hanna was talking about but she didn't know why the blue eyes girl felt the need to give her "the talk". Our writer settled to whisper her reply to get more information.
"Kind of."
Hanna nodded in satisfy like a proud teacher when her student got the right answer. The girl managed to continue her lecture.
"She's my best friend and the most amazing person I've ever be friend with. She's smart, sweet, brave, strong, modest, genuine, honest, trustful, understanding, thoughtful, caring…"
"Okay, I get it. She's amazing. You don't have to list, moving on."
"And adorable."
Spencer narrowed her eyes. Gave the blonde a confused look, the light brown eyes girl raised her voice in a sarcastic tone, mocked.
"Are you secretly in love with your best friend? Should I be worried about you two? You seem love her more than I do."
"No and no. You shouldn't be worried about me, or us. She chooses you meant she loves you. A lot. There's no way Emily would betray anyone or anything in her lifetime. No freaking way. And well, you're right. I love her more than you do. I love her more than anyone does. I love her more than she loves herself. Let's say you've just signed up for a "who loves Emily more than me?" competition. Try to beat me, Spencer. It's a challenge." Hanna finished her speech, smirking.
Her eyebrows remained unchanged which meant still furrowed. Somehow, Hanna's love for Emily was beyond Spencer's imagine and it worried her. Her brain had a really weird conversation with her heart.
Is there any chance I would lose Emily to Hanna?
Wait. Hanna has a husband, she's not gay! Duh.
Wait. Why did I worry about losing Emily?
Wait. Is that a challenge? I love challenge. Challenge accepted.
Wait. Wait, wait, wait.
"Spacing out in a middle of the talk, minus five points." Hanna shook her head, writing notes down her notebook which was just taken out seconds ago.
Her voice brought Spencer back to their conversation, curiously, the writer asked.
"What're you doing?"
"Counting your points."
"Why?"
"We're in a competition, remember?"
"No, I meant why. Why do you have to take care of her like this? She's a grown up, you know? She can take care of herself since you don't trust me with that. Like you said, she's strong and brave. She can beat up anything on her way. I think you're the one who should be taken care by her." Spencer replied, for the first time they finally had a real talk.
The blue eyes girl sighed. She somehow figured that Emily wouldn't tell her past for anyone but she even didn't tell her wife was something unexpected. Hanna decided to give Emily once more chance to tell the story of her life by herself, the blonde managed to give just enough information. She responded nonchalantly, her eyes fixed on the table.
"Being betrayed and left. Yes, she was hurt before. Badly. She was hurt by the person she trusted the most. Sometimes I believe that she trusted that person more than me. You know Emily, she can be naïve and innocent. My best friend was broken and it took me a really long time to put back the pieces. She hid it so well. So well that I almost forgot the girl who has the warmest smile was shattered by the person she loved. Since that day, I don't trust anyone with her. I don't trust her with anyone. They could break her heart again. It's my mission to protect her, do something that make me give this mission back to you, Spencer Hastings."
Okay, new things about Emily, the girl was not that readable. The writer had two big questions and she had no time to space out to answer it herself. The light brown eyes girl raised an eyebrow, said.
"She's been hurt before but how can she be that optimistic? I mean her smile keeps warming, her face keeps shining and her eyes keep glowing. Like her heart is a perfect diamond without any flaw. Wait! Why don't you trust me with your mission? I'm basically her wife, remember?"
As she was standing up, the blonde replied softly.
"Well, you have to ask her that first question, even I don't know that. About that second one, I love her more than she loves herself, Spencer. I need you to love her more than me to trust you. Now, let's call it a talk so we can finish and I'll go find my Emily. I miss her already."
Their friendship touched Spencer's soul. Their friendship melted Spencer's heart. She wrote several books about romantic love and completely forgot about the most beautiful and powerful relationships in the world. Friends are just like lovers, they care about you. Friends are just like family, they love you unconditionally. The differences are they will forever be by your side and never judge you. They would protect you till the end if your friendships still matter for both of you. They love you for who you are and can sometimes tease you for your goofiness but you always know they love you more than family in some way. Hanna loves Emily more than family in some way. A wonderful friend like Hanna should be helped with her mission. A wonderful friend like Hanna should be reassured that her mission would be complete one day. Maybe the writer wouldn't be the person who complete it but she now could just only make Emily's beloved best friend believe it, like a comfort, a guarantee.
"Hanna! Wait!"
As the blue eyes girl turned around to face her, Spencer stood up, the determination written all over her face, she raised her voice, loud enough to echo in the room.
"Challenge accepted."
The dinner was going really well. They kept making small talks or sharing interests about everything that they could think of. Aria and Emily got along like they've known other for years. Their topics revolved books, photography, black and white movies, oh and of course… Ezra. There was no way the tiny girl would miss a chance to tell the girls how amazing her husband was. Hanna and Spencer joined in sometimes. "The talk" between them earlier didn't reveal any personal hobby of the others to bring it up right now. Well, of course they shared the same interest in spending time with Emily but that obviously not a good topic to talk with… Emily. They settled to jumped in the conversation whenever they heard something they know.
Things happened for a while until Hanna got a phone call so she had to excuse herself to take it. As the blonde's shadow disappeared in the corner, Spencer whispered quietly just for Emily and Aria could hear.
"Do you know Hanna has a scary side?"
"Yeah, I know. Sometimes you poke the bear and other times the bear pokes you." Emily blinked, responded quickly.
"What the hell did you just say?" Aria raised her voice, completely confused by those words.
"It's from a movie. I don't know which one but Hanna said that." The coffee shop owner replied innocently, then spoke again. "When we were in high school, a jerk insulted me when I rejected him cause you know, I'm into girls. It was nothing and I tended to let it go but Hanna didn't think that. As she was about to find that jerk I stopped her and she said that quote then walked away."
"What happened?" The writer asked gushily.
"I don't know." The dark brown eyes girl responded, shrugged.
"What?"
"What do you mean you don't know?"
Both pairs of eyes stared at her, waiting for an answer.
"She never told me what happened that day." Emily raised her voice again, her eyebrows furrowed which the question Hanna has never answered.
"Did you try to ask that jerk?" The light brown eyes girl asked, she felt a little concern for her future if she had to deal with Hanna.
"I tried. I looked for him everywhere but it was like he disappeared after one night. No one heard about him again. So far, it's the biggest mystery in my high school."
Our writer swallowed hard. Her face looked like she had just seen a zombie or something. The girl's eyes fixed on her dish which she didn't have the mood to touch again.
The tanned girl noticed that. She recalled their conversation from the beginning then reckoned that Spencer must do something to Hanna that the blue eyes girl released the bear in her and scared the writer. It was fun to see Spencer like this so Emily smirked, raised her voice to ask curiously.
"What did you do, Spencer?"
Putting her head on her hands, the light brown eyes girl breathed out her answer.
"Nothing. I just received the talk from her".
"What talk?" Emily's eyebrows furrowed, she didn't know Hanna had "the talk".
As the writer was about to respond, Hanna walked in, her voice caught everyone's attention.
"Hey girls. I'm back."
The dark brown eyes girl turned around to face Hanna who now approaching her. Emily questioned worriedly.
"What were you and Spencer talking in the living room earlier? Why is she asking about your scary side?"
Giving Spencer a brief glare, Hanna flicked her eyes back to Emily, smiling.
"It's nothing. Just small chit chat between best friend's best friend and best friend's wife. You don't have to worry about it."
The blue eyes girl finished her sentence and managed to kiss Emily's cheek. She then pulled back and was about to get back to her seat just to be stopped by Spencer's voice.
"Why do you kiss her? It's like the fifth times of today."
Apparently, the light brown eyes girl had muttered those words under her breath but the room was so quiet that every single word was heard by the three other girls. The blonde raised an eyebrow, replied proudly.
"I kiss whom I love whenever I want, Spencer. I thought you must be got used to it since Emily does that too."
"No, she didn't." The writer whispered under her breath again without knowing it.
"What?" Aria raised her voice for the first time since Hanna walked in, joined in the blue eyes girl's voice. Their eyes narrowed, never left Spencer's face as if they trying to burn out the explanation from her.
Knowing the light brown eyes girl was in deep trouble, Emily once again settled to drag her out of the mess she had made.
"She meant I didn't kiss her today. You know, it's been a busy day and I totally forgot. Well, it reminds me…" Left her sentence unfinished, smiling, the tanned girl leaned over to put a genuine kiss on Spencer's cheek. After a moment, the girl leaned back, stood up, smiled at her friends, said playfully. "I'll check the dessert. And Hanna, take your bear in, don't scared my Spencer."
Emily had left for five minutes and the table still remained silent. Not that they didn't have anything to say. The one who has something to say was unable to find her words and the other two were so amused by the scene that they didn't want to interrupt.
It was understandable though. It was the first time Emily willingly kissed her. Of course in situation like this it could count like a force but who cares. She could choose another solution but she managed to kiss her. Emily managed to kiss her. For five seconds. For exactly five seconds. Don't ask. She counted it. The moment Emily's lips touched her cheek, Spencer swore that her heart had stopped beating. Her heart had stopped beating for five freaking seconds and somehow she was glad that it had stopped. The scenes in front of her eyes was a blur. She didn't want to see anything anyway. She didn't want to say anything. She didn't want to do anything. She just want to feel it. She just wanted that her life was a camera so she could capture this moment and stop it forever. It was a shame though. Her moment wasn't a gif that could last forever. The girl's lips left her cheek in a blink. The warm was still lingering where she had touched gave Spencer the urge to raise her palm and keep it, refused to let it go. The surprise on her face slowly faded away and a sheepish smile quickly took over the place. Her eyes glowing in the yellow light of the room, reflected her joy and happiness.
Aria and Hanna shared a knowing look. If there was any suspicious left in their mind, the fantastic view in front of them would erase it, delete it, throw it away. They both knew that their friends were in good hands, that their friends really found the love of their life, that their friends could finally live happily ever after. It was like a fairy tale. The happiest one.
"Damn it. You're so cute when you're Emily's Spencer."
"And Emily's so adorable when she's Spencer's Emily."
The blonde and her tiny new friend mimicked each other sentence then laughed out loud. Their laughter was really loud but it didn't bring our writer back to this room. Not until Emily raised her voice when she came back.
"Hey, sorry I'm late. The oven door was stuck so… But it's okay now. Enjoy."
The girls smiled back at her and of course, Aria and Hanna's smiles had a hint of sly. As Emily sat down, Hanna raised her glass, using a royal tone but smiling mischievously.
"I, Hanna Marin the first, announce, we're stuck together forever. Cheers."
While the blue eyes girl and the artist laughing at Hanna's words, Emily flicked her eyes briefly to the floor. She knew this wouldn't last forever. She knew things would end after five months from now. Or worse, they would find out the truth sooner than planned. Guilt slowly came back to her stomach. These new friendships were precious and she didn't want to lose it but it was unavoidable. They would have to split one day. Hanna would have to say goodbye to everything she believed that would last forever one day. Aria would have to get out of her life forever and find someone else to share her hobbies one day. Their heart would be crushed one day. Because of her. The girl swallowed hard as if to wash away her guilt, she blinked once again, put on her smile then raised her glass.
"Together forever."
They clinked their glasses and drank. Glancing over at Emily, Spencer felt like she can read the girl again. She knew what was going on in Emily's head. She knew what guilt Emily was feeling. She didn't want the girl to feel guilty. She didn't want the girl to lie anymore. She didn't.
Don't worry, Emily. I'll make it last forever. Together.
AN: Tell me what you think?