Just keep writin', just keep writin'.

"So Emily, how's school going?" Mr. Fields asked at the dinner table. Alison sat eating quietly next to Emily and her parents were at heads of the table. As nervous as Alison was, she saw how her swimmer was beaming from ear to ear and it made her heart flutter.

"It's going really well, senior year isn't that bad," Emily said softly with a smile.

"Swimming is going alright?"

"Yes dad, Coach has us working extra hard for the meet at the end of the month."

"How about you? Anything new, Alison? Is there a lucky guy in the picture?" Mr. Fields asked smiling.

"Things are great, but nope there is no guy," she said with a smug smile and mischievous eyes since she had anticipated questions like that.

"I'd think a pretty girl like you would be taken," he complimented.

"You'd be surprised by a lot of things," Alison said carefully with a teasing look at Emily. Emily blushed and her parents shared a look that went unnoticed by the two of them.

"Are you still dating Ben?" Mr. Fields asked and Emily almost choked on her food and Alison smirked.

"He hasn't come around at all lately," Mrs. Field's noted carefully.

"We broke up, he was too pushy," Emily explained.

"He was no good for you anyway," Alison said as she continued eating.

"I agree with Alison, he was obnoxious," Mr. Fields agreed.

"But polite," Mrs. Fields interjected.

Alison shrugged. "Polite doesn't overrule how he was overly aggressive with poor Em here."

"Ali!"

"What do you mean aggressive?" Mr. Field's suddenly asked in a dangerously low voice.

"Nothing," Emily said quickly shooting a look at her secret girlfriend but Alison ignored her.

"He was kind of a pig. I walked in on him making Emily…uncomfortable at school," Alison went on.
"Alison!" Emily looked so flustered her parents didn't know what to say.

"But nothing happened?" Mr. Fields asked cautiously.

"No," Emily said shaking her head furiously before she gave Alison a softer look, surprising the blonde. "She stopped him."

"I never would have guessed," Mrs. Fields said in shock and Alison had to hold back an eye roll because she knew how Pam pushed Emily to date a guy for such a long time. "He was so nice."

Emily just shook her head while Alison caught Mr. Fields looking at her appreciatively and she gave him a faint smile and head nod.

"Well I have some choice words for that boy," Mr. Fields muttered as he continued eating, causing the two girls to smile.

The rest of dinner went smoothly without interruptions or anything out of the normal. Alison's phone buzzed, and she excused herself for a minute but Emily forgot about it as time went on. Emily's parents didn't care if Ali stayed over, and Emily was more than happy to watch a movie before bed with her dad and Alison.

The three of them were in the living room, Emily between the two on the couch. Mr. Fields kept teasing his daughter every time she jumped during the thriller, and Alison longed for a father who joked around with her like that. But she enjoyed spending time with the two of them, especially when Emily would jump and her hand would land on Alison's leg.

"Your dad's a really nice guy," Alison later said thoughtfully as she brushed her teeth next to Emily who was waiting to shower.

"I wonder how he'd take it if he knew I was dating you," Emily said.

"I bet he'd be okay," Alison reassured. "I mean of course you never know, but I have a feeling."

Alison rinsed. She gave Emily a peck on the lips and smiled with a goofy grin on her face. "Come to bed okay as fast as you can okay?" Emily nodded vigorously and Alison skipped out of the bathroom, only to see Mr. Field's conveniently coming up the stairs simultaneously.

"Alison," he said with a knowing look.

"Yes sir?" she asked batting her eyes.

"Is Emily in the bathroom?"

"Yes she was about to hop in the shower," Alison answered honestly.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure," Alison said a little nervous. The army man looked intimidating as she realized how defined he was, just like Emily.

"Is there something going on between you and my daughter?" he asked in a low voice looking at her carefully. Alison considered lying, but as she looked at his face closely she noticed no negative signs.

"Like what sir?"

"I've seen the way you look at each other, and how the two of you behave as 'friends'. I have a knack for reading people," he said chuckling. "And I can tell you do too."

"It's one of my best skills," Ali admitted then swallowed thickly. She'd never been in this situation before. The last person she dated had been for like two weeks and it was years ago. "I really care about Emily. And she really cares about me. I don't think I should be the one to flat out tell you what's going on, but I do care about her, so much."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Her mother may need to warm up to the idea a bit, but she is still in the dark for the most part. She has her suspicions though."

"Emily wanted to tell you guys, she just didn't know when or how, and she's afraid. And I was not about to push her," Alison said firmly. "I don't blame her. People in this town can be really judgmental. I mean I'm afraid to tell people too, but I would do it for Emily. She's sensitive and I don't want anyone to hurt her."

"You're a good girl, Ali," he said and she was glad that for once somebody saw her as that and not a horrible bitch. "Be good to my Emmy."

"Of course," she said with a smile and she liked how easy it was for her to slip into girlfriend mode. But she paused quickly. "Mr. Fields?"

"Yes Alison?"

She smiled at him genuinely with admiration. "I wish my dad was like you."

He just chuckled and nodded at her and she grinned before going into Emily's room.

When Emily came into the room, Alison patted a spot on the edge of the bed. Emily looked at her quizzically and Alison raised an eyebrow warning Emily not to question her.

The swimmer walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, and Ali went over and kneeled behind her on the mattress.

"I wanted to do something nice for you," Ali said in a sultry voice near Emily's ear as she leaned down. Her hands rested on Emily's shoulder before her thumbs dug in to the spot right below her neck on her back and Emily let out a moan before she could stop herself and her hand flew over her mouth.

"I guess it feels good then," Ali said smiling as she continued to massage the tanned skin beauty. "You're really tense babe."

"You know what's funny? I feel like this is so natural, like we've been doing this all along," Emily said with a grin.

"Because we have," Alison said smiling. "Except, you know, for when I was being an asshole."

"I guess I'm rubbing off on you," Emily said repeating Alison's words from earlier.

"You flat out make me want to be a better person, Emily Fields. Because I want to be better FOR you," Alison clarified. Emily hummed happily as fingers worked to relax her.

"Aria came over today," Alison told Emily. "She's my second favorite after you."

"What'd she want?"

"She believed my intentions were pure. And I knew she would, she feels everything very deeply. That's why I like her," Ali said thinking about the petite brunette. "She wants me to be happy."

"Good," Emily said as she bit her lip while Alison's hands went at a particular knot in her back. They kneaded with expertise and Emily squirmed slightly from the pressure.

"Did I hurt you?" Alison asked stopping, worried.

"No, it's just really tight," Emily said breathily and Alison swallowed at the double entendre as she felt desire pool at her core.

"Emily I think I have a problem," Alison commented as she kept working on her back.

"Not another one of those problems you need my help solving," Emily fake groaned as she teased the blonde.

"No seriously. I think I might have the highest sex drive ever," Alison said frowning.

"It's probably a result of what happened while you were growing up," Emily said cautiously.

"Probably, fuck Cece," Alison cursed under her breath.

"I don't mind," Emily said shyly as she stopped the massage and pulled the blonde's arms around her in a tight hug.

"You say that now," Alison said with a cheeky grin as she leaned her head around and kissed Emily's cheek.

"I could never get tired of you," Emily said honestly.

"Again, you say that now," Alison said smirking. "I am a lot to handle Em."

"I handled you pretty okay that night didn't I?" Emily teased but she saw Ali's eyes darken slightly with desire. "I didn't hear any complaints."

"Seriously, Em," Alison said trying to stay focused. "I just…I just want you to know that. You know I can be a bitch. And I mean there's still so much you don't know about me. Like, for example, if it's not cold enough in the room, I can't fall asleep."

"So that's why your house is always freezing," Emily commented. "How do you survive at Hanna's house?"

Alison snorted. "And how often do you think I'm at Hanna's for sleepovers?"

"Good point," Emily agreed. "But anyway, I don't care Alison. You haven't scared me away yet."

"I'm afraid, it's scary to trust someone this much," Alison admitted. "I do, I do trust you. I'm just scared you'll grow tired of me or I'll become too much for you to handle."

"You're that insecure about us?"

"Well you've never really dated anyone you actually liked, and I'm the first. What if I'm not the last? People have always told me I'm too much to handle, or that I'm not worth sticking around for. Like my parents, guys I hooked up with, or Jason even. And if you hear that enough, you begin to believe it," Alison said quietly.

"I wouldn't want you any other way," Emily said firmly.

Ali smiled before frowning again.

"I have to tell you something. I got a text from Cece during dinner."

"What did it say?" Emily asked suddenly extremely anxious.

Alison just pulled her phone out and showed her. I heard you were getting cozy with Emily at The Brew. Keep your mouth shut, or one of us will and you'll wish you listened.

"I don't wanna know what she'd try if she knew we were dating," Ali admitted painfully. Emily didn't know what to think. She was pissed, sad, and anxious simultaneously all of a sudden. Alison watched a surge of emotion appear on Emily's face.

"This needs to end," Emily finally said angrily. "I don't feel safe with you at your house. She knows how to get in doesn't she?"

"She could if she wanted to, but she's not exactly my mom's favorite of my brother's friends," Alison affirmed. "I'll stay here Em until we figure it out," Alison said as she took Emily's hands and rubbed it gently.

"She's not going to touch you again," Emily whispered fiercely.

"You know what I daydreamed of today?"

"What?"

"Next year, when we both escape Rosewood and all this shit. I'll have a chance to start over," Ali said with a dreamy sigh.

"I can't believe you'd be any less mischievous or…intense," Emily teased.

"No, but I can get rid of my infamy," Ali said with a twinkle in her eyes. There was a pause, but the daydream was rudely interrupted.

"Cece needs to pay for what she did," Emily said gently, distracted and unable to get horrible images and thoughts out of her mind.

"We should just let it go for now," Alison said uncomfortably, anxiety rising quickly over the situation.

"Ali, she terrorized you for so long," Emily argued.

"Exactly Em, she knows how to get away with it."

"But she can't just get away with it anymore, it needs to stop."

Alison pursed her lips tightly, not knowing what else to say and not wanting to argue. Emily was clearly unhappy about the situation and Alison didn't know what to do. They both eventually went to sleep, next to each other, but miles apart in their minds.