A/N- I hope you are all well! Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, they absolutely make my day! I wish I could update every other day but the story would be over way to quickly. Please give me a quick review please.
Alison had moved all her belongings into a cheap hotel for the week as she couldn't stand to be in her and Camilla's apartment for too long. She hadn't heard anything from Cam since the day she walked out the door of their apartment and it still broke her heart to think about the photographer. Another brunette kept invading her thoughts and made her feel even worse about the whole situation.
"Fuck!" She screams in frustration as she throws her phone on the small bed. She has to fly out tomorrow to Paris and see Emily again. She hasn't spoken to her since the day the swimmer dropped her off at her car and she doesn't even know where to begin.
Emily drove towards the bar where she had picked up the blonde less than twelve hours previous. Alison had yet to say anything since they got into the gun metal gray Mustang and pulled out of the swimmers large garage.
"So?! Do you want to talk about what happened?" Emily asks trying to break the tension.
"Not especially!" The blonde snaps back.
The swimmer bites her tongue so she doesn't snap back at her. She feels bad as the blonde looks completely lost and broken and the brunette knows that her default is to go back to 'bitchy Ali' when she is feeling vulnerable.
"You can talk to me if you need someone." She tries again.
Alison can feel all her rage boiling up at Camilla for give up and running away when things got hard and Emily for doing the same all those years ago. "Like I could talk to you in high school when I REALLY needed someone?!"
"I tried to be there then too, Alison! You wouldn't give me a chance." Emily says frustration lacing her voice as she parked next to the blondes car.
"I really don't want to talk about this... especially with you..." She says as she opens the car door.
"What is that suppose to mean?!" The swimmer asks in irritation.
"Nothing... just fucking forget it!" She shouts as she slams the door closed.
Emily rolled down her window down trying to get Alison to talk to her, "Please Ali... don't leave like this..."
"I need to go... before I say something I regret." She tells the swimmer as she gets in her car and speeds off.
- x - x - x - x -
Alison woke up feeling a bit better than the previous few days, she been laying low and only leaving her room when she absolutely had to. She had been debating whether or not to go to Paris to finish the article or calling Miranda to find someone else. She finally decided after everything she's been through she wasn't going to give up, she had already lost Cam. She wasn't going to squander this opportunity to make a real name for herself. She was getting on that flight tomorrow and she was going to keep it completely professional.
- x - x - x - x -
She sat uneasily in her seat knowing that it was a possibility that Emily could not only be on her flight but also seated next to her as well. As more and more passengers board she starts breathing a bit easier until she hears an all too familiar laugh, she would know it anywhere. As the swimmer got closer Alison busies herself in a stack of papers she had brought and prays that Emily didn't notice her.
"Alright I have your schedule all set and you will have a few weeks to get acclimated before opening ceremonies and such." Gabby told her as she made her way to her seat
"So I will see you when we land." Emily tells her assistant as she stops next to Alison's row and sits across from her.
Emily got comfortable and put her headphones in as the plane taxied down the runway, at first she didn't notice the blonde buried in paperwork sitting directly beside her until vanilla and lavender envelopes her.
"So are we just going to act like we don't know each other or …?" Emily asks as she leans across the aisle.
"I don't know what you are talking about?" She says not looking up from her papers.
"Come on Alison, we are going to be spending a lot of time together over the next month as you have said before. Can we at least try to do so on friendlier terms?" The brunette say with beseeching eyes.
"Yeah... I guess that might be a good idea." Alison says with a slight smile.
"Why don't we start with what happened the last night I saw you?" Emily asks curiously.
"I... I just had a bad night... that's all..." She murmurs.
Emily leans closer trying to hear her. "Why don't you sit over here," she says as she pats the seat next to her, "so we can talk.. a bit easier?"
Alison sets her papers back in her carry on and grabs it as she makes her away across the aisle and squeezes past the brunette who 'accidentally' touches her ass as she sits with a squeak. "Is that better?" Alison asks as she gets comfortable in the plush seat.
"Much." Emily says with a goofy grin. "So what happened? Why did you call me?"
"My two year relationship blew up in my face so I went out and got drunk. I-I left my phone in my car and the bartender took my keys and your number was the only one I could recall in the moment."
"What?! I thought you weren't seeing anyone?" The swimmer asks confused.
"You ask if I had a boyfriend not if I was seeing someone." The blonde said shyly.
"Oh?... Oh!" Emily says as she gets what Alison is not saying.
"Yeah..." She says feeling suddenly awkward.
"Who was she?" She asks curiously.
"She... she was actually the photographer that took your pictures last week..." Alison says feeling embarrassed.
"That's why she had such a problem with me!" The swimmer said with realization written on her features.
"What do you mean?" The blonde asks baffled.
"She was kind of aggressive... and ask some pretty personal questions." She explains.
"Like? If you don't mind me asking..." She says looking at her with curious blue eyes.
"If I ever loved anyone, well besides myself." She says unable to meet Alison's eyes.
"What did you say?"She couldn't help the question falling out, her curiosity piqued.
"I told here once." Emily says not wanting to elaborate too much. "So you're bi?" She asks changing the subject.
"You know I'm not much for labels... I've only been with two women so..." She mumbles quietly.
"Well, you obviously have a type..." The swimmer say with a smirk.
"I could say the same about you." Alison said a little hurt.
"Don't believe everything you read." She says slyly.
"What does that mean?" She asks quirking her eyebrow at the brunette.
"So you aren't a player than?" The blonde asks intrigued.
"I don't kiss and tell..." She says with a lithe teasing tone.
The stewardess broke the tension as she stops next to their seats. "Would you ladies like a drink?" She asks kindly motioning to her cart of assorted liquors, different sodas, and waters.
Emily smiles at the attractive blonde with green eyes. "Yes, Julia..." She says reading her name tag, "I'll have a whiskey." She says with a smile, her dimples showing.
She grabs a small bottle and hands it to the swimmer, "Anything for you miss?"
"Just a water, please." She says hoping Emily doesn't question her drink of choice.
Julia hands her a bottle of water and smiles, "If you need anything else, feel free to buzz me." She says flirtatiously looking at the brunette.
"Will do, thanks!" Alison says with a biting tone.
"Jealous much?" The swimmer asks the blonde as the stewardess left fairly quickly.
"You wish," She says with a sneer, and mumbles "I'm better looking than her any way,"
Emily smiles at the last comment. "So why aren't you drinking?"
"I'm not much of a drinker... any more." She says with a shrug as she opens her water.
"That wasn't the case, not too terribly long ago." Emily says with a knowing look.
"That was a slip..." She says mentally kicking herself.
"I remember you saying something that night... about how your meds lower your tolerance?" Emily asks in concern. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah... I'm fine. It's just..." The blonde stumbles over her words anxiously.
"Hey..." The swimmer says putting her hand on Alison's comfortingly. "You don't have to explain anything to me."
"Don't I?" She asks feeling guilty.
"Okay? Now I'm confused..." Emily says with her hand still on the blondes.
"I... I didn't plan on being in a relationship with Camilla, it... it just kind of happened." She explains, "She was very persistent and patient with me."
"I didn't expect you not to date, I-I was just surprised that's all." She says sadness lacing her voice.
"Didn't you date, after you and... Paige broke up?" Alison asks, cringe at the name.
"I didn't pick her over you... I just thought you weren't an option." The brunette says hastily.
"It's fine... it was a confusing time." She says brushing it off.
"I just never really found any one... special that's all." She says downing the rest of her drink.
"I know the feeling..." She mumbles as she blushes.
Taking her cue Emily changes the subject. "So Paris, huh?" She says with a smile.
"I know... I've been dreaming of going there for so long." Alison says here face lighting up.
"I remember." The swimmer says with a warm smile.
"I still think you would look good on top of the Eiffel Tower, with the wind in your hair." The blonde says coyly her blue eyes sparkling.
Emily was about to flirt back when the Stewardess showed up with their in flight meals. "Cob salad for you," She says handing the blonde her food, "and a prime rib for you. I also brought you another whiskey." She says with a wink as she hands the swimmer her food.
"I didn't order that." Emily says politely.
"I upgraded you, no charge." She says as she touches her arm as she walks off.
"Damn, how does she know that we aren't together?!" The blonde says angrily.
"Really?" She asks incredulously.
"What? I could be your girlfriend... for all she knows..." She says under her breath.
"Why don't we start with friends again... first." She adds with a smirk.
"Sounds good to me." Alison says taking a bite of her salad to mask her goofy grin.
"We should hang out... while we're in Paris. Besides you interviewing me that is." The brunette says eating her lunch.
"I would love to visit the Louvre." Alison suggests.
"Great, then it's a date... I mean..." She says her mouth stuck open.
"Em...", she says with a giggle, "it's fine... I knew what you meant."
After catching up for the majority of the flight and watching a few movies the plane finally made it's descent. As they make their way through the aisle and off the plane Alison smiles at the brunette, "So I will see you soon?"
"Yeah!" She says with a soft smile. "I have a few press things but I should have sometime later this week."
"Sounds like a date." The blonde says with a giggle as she walks off to get her bags.
Gabby makes her way over to the swimmer, "Everything okay?"
"Huh?" Emily says shaking her head to clear it. "Yeah... everything's good." She says with a sly smile.
"So how was the flight? Is first class that much better?" She asks curiously.
"Not too shabby." She says with a goofy grin.
"Could a certain blonde have something to with that?" She asks with a knowing look.
"Maybe..." She says making her way through the terminal.
- x - x - x - x -
After touring the Olympic village, Alison wrote her first draft for her third article. She also sent the final draft of the second piece to Miranda to be published. It felt like the longest three days of her life, her phone finally rang and she grab it off the small bedside table. She couldn't help but smile when she say the caller ID.
"Hello Miss Fields." She said with a teasing tone.
"Hello Miss DiLaurentis, would you care to accompany me to the Louvre and an early dinner this afternoon?" The swimmer asks playing along.
"I would be honored." She said with a soft giggle.
"Can I pick you up in an hour?" Emily asks hopefully.
"Sounds good to me... see you soon." The blonde says a little excited.
"See you soon." She says before hanging up.
Alison starts to panic slightly as she grabs some clean underwear and heads into the large attached en suite. She was lucky enough to get a private room with it's own full bathroom. The room wasn't too shabby either with a nice kitchenette and sitting room that lead to a patio with a nice view of River Seine.
After taking a quick shower and drying her hair into her natural soft curls, she put on some light make up and her signature vanilla and lavender perfume. She stands in front of the closet off the bedroom trying to decided what to wear. She decided on her pink tribal maxi dress and pink jacket paired with comfortable flats since they would be walking quite a bit. Grabbing her purse and her phone she makes her way to the lobby to meet Emily.
- x - x - x - x -
As she walked into the lobby her breath caught at the sight of Emily in a white dress with ruffles topped off with a dark denim jacket. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she got closer to the brunette goddess.
"Hey..." She says suddenly feeling shy.
"Hey yourself." She says as she checks out the blonde, admiring the way her dress hugged her womanly curves.
"My eyes are up here..." Alison says as she points to her face as she walks passed the shocked swimmer and to the door.
Emily stands there for a minute before shaking her head to clear it and follows the blonde out to the waiting cab. She opens the door for Alison and lets her slide in first and tells the drive, "The Louvre please."
- x - x - x - x -
As they enter through the main entrance of the beautiful glass pyramid, a tour was just getting ready to begin.
Emily smiles at Alison, "Should we join?"
"Sounds good to me." She says returning her smile and looping her arm through the brunette's.
The tour guide smiles at the small group that has gathered, "Welcome to the Louvre, my name is Mariam, I will be your guide today." She says with a thick french accent. "Now if you will all follow me this way please." As the group follows her she explains some interesting things about the museum, "The Louvre is the largest and most visited museums in the world. We display over 35,000 paintings, sculptures and many other works of art, and we also house thousands of other objects in our collections. We are currently standing in Hall Napoleon, it was built in 1989"
Emily and Alison get lost for a moment as they stare up at the breathtaking view of the glass pyramid. The blonde takes out her phone and snaps a few pictures and posts them to her Instagram.
"This tour will take us to the top five pieces that the Louvre has. If you wanted to see everything the Louvre has to offer it would take 100 days to see it all. That is all day without breaks and only spending 30 seconds on each piece. Also there are several hundred thousand items that are not on display."
"Lets head to the Sully wing," the guide says as she leads them around the escalators and they all enter the elevator. "Our first stop is Aphrodite, or as most people know it as the Venus de Milo." After a few more twists and turns plus a couple more elevator rides they enter room 7.
They all gather around the large beautiful statue, "Aphrodite, the Roman Venus, she was the goddess of love and beauty, born from the foam of the sea. Her realistic nudity is linked to the Hellenistic period, arguably the last great era in Greek history. Timeless and emotionless, she is a true masterpiece."
Alison asks an older gentleman in the group to take a picture for her. "Come on Em... pose with me... please!" She begs as she pulls the reluctant swimmer toward the statue.
"Fine..." She says in mock defeat, unable to deny the sweet dimpled smile looking at her.
They posed for a few goofy pictures and then Emily decides to be a bit braver and put her arm around the blondes shoulder. Alison pecks her on the cheek and the man giggles as he snaps a picture.
"Perfect!" He says with a smile, handing Alison her phone.
"Thank you." She tells him as she takes it and looks at the picture with a smile.
She passes the phone to Emily, who can't help but blush a bit and smiles. "Cute."
"Do you mind if I post it?" Alison asks curiously, not wanting to push.
"Sure." She says a little too excited. "I mean.. we both look good and everything."
After visiting the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory Samothrace, The Mosaic of the Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite, and Hercules Resting. The guide lead them back toward the entrance, "Another interesting fact about the museum is that many believed it is haunted by a mummy named Belphegor and the nearby Tuileries Gardens are also thought to be haunted by a man dressed in red." She says in a spooky voice. "Well that is the end of the tour, I hope you all enjoyed it and have a wonderful rest of your day!" She says kindly.