As she turned to walk out the door of The Brew, a flash of blonde in the corner caught Spencer's eye. Alison was situated in one of the more secluded corners of the cafe, sitting comfortably on a large cushy chair. Attention fully immersed in an old-looking book in hand, the blonde reached over to grab the mug of hot beverage decorating her otherwise empty table and took a sip. Spencer smiled at the sight, realizing that since she got shot, she hasn't spent any time with her feisty friend.
The two girls were never the closest out of the group. With both of them being alpha types and the seemingly complicated history between their families, it was odd the two became friend at all. But a shared brother and countless life or death situations later, the two have come to a mutual understanding. Thanks to AD's twisted machinations, the bond between them actually strengthened. Spencer have come to really care about Alison and felt proud of how far the former Queen Bee has come. After the shooting, the brunette had been so embroiled in her own parental drama that she'd neglected to check up on the blonde. She could tell something was off, the moodiness she would sometimes exhibit, the occasional snappy comment that would escape her mouth. But if Alison Dilaurentis wanted a secret kept in the dark, there was no prying it out of her. Spencer also knew there was only one person in the entire world that has been the sole exception to that rule. And judging by how often that certain brunette's car is parked outside Alison's house, Spencer knew the blonde was in good hands.
Looking around, she noticed the coffee shop barely had any customers at this hour. She figured that's probably why Alison chose to stay rather than grabbing a drink to-go. Spencer briefly debated interrupting the blonde who seemed so wrapped up in her novel. Before she knew it, however, her feet pulled her forward until she was standing infront of her old friend.
"Hey," Spencer spoke out softly as to not startle the blonde.
Alison's eyes snapped up towards the sound, briefly flashing a glint of annoyance at being interrupted. The look quickly dissipated, however, when she realized who it was. "Hey, Spence." She closed her book with a soft thud and turned more fully towards the girl, offering her a warm smile. "What are you up to so early?"
"Just grabbing some much needed caffein boost," the brunette held up her own coffee up. "My coffee maker's busted and you know how I get without my coffee."
The two shared a chuckle at the statement, both girls knowing exactly how volatile Spencer could get. "Good thing you have some now otherwise I'd warn the cops that a coffee-less Spencer is on the loose," Alison quipped, smirking in jest before offering, "Do you wanna sit?"
The brunette nodded in appreciation and plopped herself down opposite the blonde. Spencer's eye drifted to the book still in Alison's hands. "Great Expectations. How English teacher-ish of you," the girl joked.
"It's my favorite book, thank you very much," the blonde unabashedly replied, placing her book on the table between them.
"Funny. Em mentioned once it's her favorite book too." Alison's cheeks blushed at the comment, thinking back to the previous evening and the reason she's re-reading the classic tale in the first place.
Emily's finger glides gently over the spine of the novel resting on the DiLaurentis bookshelf, smiling to herself as her mind gets lost in a distant memory. She's snapped out of it when she hears Alison entering the room, quickly retracted her hand before the blonde sees what she was looking at. Alison noticed the suspicious movement immediately and quirked her brows up in question only to be met with Emily's plastered on smile of innocence. The girl squints her eyes in skepticism and walked over to where the brunette was standing.
Alison's eye quickly zoned in on a particular book that stood out on the shelf and smirked, deciding to play with the girl for a bit. "Did you want to read something?"
The blonde moved to stand between Emily and bookshelf, their close proximity suddenly making the air around them much harder to breathe. Emily's eyes locked onto the blonde's teasing ones, knowing immediately her ruse was up.
Alison could tell the exact moment the brunette knew she'd been made and moved in for the kill.
"I can make you a cheat sheet," the blonde whispered, her tone light and teasing, grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat.
Emily tore her gaze away from those gravitating blue orbs with an embarrassed chuckle, stepping backwards a bit just so she could properly regain the function of the lungs. Alison decided she had teased the girl enough and pulled the book out of the shelf. The blond grabbed Emily's hand, tugging her to sit on the couch so they can thumb through the book together. Despite the wide expanse of the couch, the two sat pressed to next to each other on one end.
"I haven't read this in years," Emily admitted, "Not since graduation."
Alison absentmindedly flipped through the various pages. "Did you ever finish the whole thing? It's definitely rough at some parts," her voice trailed off for a bit before finding renewed optimism. "But if you remember, there's a happy ending." Alison looked up at Emily, not entirely surprised to see that the brunette had been staring at her the entire time. "And you love happy endings."
"I guess I'll have to re-read it then," Emily settled on saying, sending a smile towards the girl.
"We'll both have to," Alison decided right then, leaning a little closer to the brunette and beginning the first page.
A message tone pulled Alison out of her reverie. Spencer immediately straightened up, an instinctual response of protectiveness that emerged every time a message is sent to one of the girls. AD really has them all trained, Spencer mused sarcastically. Alison reached for her phone, anxiety instantly replaced with a rush of warmth when she saw who the message was from.
Emily: Did you get to that part yet?
Alison couldn't contain the smile from reaching her face as she quickly typed back a response.
Alison: Someone's an eager reader :P
Spencer noticed the shift in demeanor right away and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Alison DiLaurentis doesn't smile like a lovesick teenager. So who could elicit that type of reaction from her? Unless….
Deciding to satisfy her curiosity, Spencer broached the topic, "Must be pretty special text to have to you smiling like that."
Biting her lip at the comment, Alison debated her options. On one hand, she's still figuring out her feelings for Emily. Spending a lot of time together has helped Alison come to terms with her feelings for the brunette but she doesn't quite know how to verbalize them. Most of her feelings have always manifested through actions and these past couple of weeks with Emily have been no exception. They've been increasingly touchy and she knows they both are heading towards something real. But she hasn't quite put words to those thoughts yet and she doesn't know if she can handle Spencer's particular line of questioning right now. On the other hand, she really should talk to someone. She's opened up to Spencer on her love life before, granted it was about other guys, but maybe Spencer can help shed some light on the situation. The faster she figures it out, the faster she can tell Emily.
"That was Em," Alison revealed, "We've been…close lately." The blonde braced herself for her friend's response.
"Ah…" Spencer breathed out, "It's about time. We were all wondering if there was anything going on between you two."
Taken back by Spencer's remarks, the blonde pressed, "What? What do you mean 'we'"?
The brunette laughed at Alison's obvious reaction, arms crossed and forehead crinkled in confusion. "Hanna and Aria were convinced you two are secretly dating or something. I initially dismissed it because I thought you guys would tell us if you are. But, I guess I'm wrong?"
"Well, all three of you are wrong. Sort of." Alison took a deep breath. "We're not dating but we're not nothing."
"Care to elaborate on that, Riddler?" Spencer teased.
The blonde hesitated a second before settling on the most brief version of the story. "Em and I kissed awhile back and she asked me not to do it again until I know why I kissed her in the first place."
"And do you know?"
"I think I know. I guess deep down my heart has always known, but my head, that's different monster entirely," Alison admitted, eyes darting everywhere except at the girl across from her.
Spencer studied the blonde, fascinated at the softer side she's choosing to show. She can tell that it's taking a lot for the girl to open up to her and wouldn't want to say the wrong thing to set her off. Lowering her voice in a gentle tone, she asked, "What's keeping you from telling her?"
"If I tell her then we can be together. But I don't want to hurt her. Everyone who's been in my life has either died or been smart enough to leave. What if I really do break everything I touch? Emily is…she's warm and caring and loving. I'm terrified to mess it up with her. If I screw it up, I'm gonna destroy the person I care about most." Alison's head hung low, sighing in frustration.
Spencer looked at the blonde sympathetically, her heart breaking for her friend. Out of the five of them, Alison's been through hell and back. Being buried alive by her mother, tormented by her sister/cousin, and tortured by her husband should have driven any normal person off the rails. But there Alison was, trying to piece her life together despite all the forces looming to tear it apart.
"Do you see the way Emily looks at you?" Spencer asked, hoping the mention of the other brunette's feelings would pull Alison out of her own dark thoughts.
The question had the desired effect as Alison lifted her head to look at her friend and nodded.
"Well, she's head over heels. Always have been. You act like Emily is unaware of your past when she knows you better and deeper than any of us. She knows and she still adores you." Spencer paused, making sure she hasn't lost the girl.
"And you're not cursed, Ali. AD might be really good at making it seem that way but it's not true. Will there be times you guys get hurt? Yes. Will there be times you mess up? Absolutely. But that goes for Em too. We're human, we're imperfect. Real relationships aren't smooth sailing fairytales all the time. But if you love each other and you anchor yourselves in that, you'll be able to get through the lows and enjoy the highs. Not taking that chance on something you both clearly want only hurts you. And her."
The blonde nodded in gratitude, Spencer's words slowly easing her fears. The brunette was right. Alison and Emily can only stay in this limbo state for so long. To not give them a real shot at being together out of fear that something could go wrong in the future is foolish. They both deserve to be happy—with each other for once.
"Thanks, Spence," Alison smiled gratefully. "Honestly, I'm surprised you're not grilling me harder about my feelings for Emily."
Spencer sniggered at the assumption. "I see the way Em looks at you but I also see the way you look at her. We've all grown up from our teenage ways. I know you're not playing with her. All I want is for my best friends to be happy. Plus, you're technically my cousin now so I gotta root for you, right?"
"Oh god, that's a whole other conversation we'd need to have," Alison playfully rolled her eyes, the mood now sufficiently lightened.
The two went on to talk about other things happening in their lives. The blonde complained about her bratty students, while the brunette dished on her growing closeness with a certain detective. They were two friends catching up on some much needed bonding time, two friends who, by knowledge of their familial connection and recent heart-to-heart, were keen to develop their friendship further. Eventually, Spencer glances down at her watch and sighed. "Ugh, I gotta go. But I'll catch you later, kay?"
The brunette gathered her bag and Alison rose to give her friend a hug goodbye, promising to hang out with her more often. When Spencer pulled away, she cheekily asked, "It's been awhile since I read Great Expectations, but Pip gets Estella in the end right?"
Alison beamed in response, unable to get a word out, a blush rising to her cheeks for the second time that day. Spencer laughed at the reaction and walked out the door, leaving Alison alone with her thoughts once more. The past few days have solidified the what and why of her feelings towards Emily. Today put to rest the last mental obstacle of her telling Emily exactly what she's been thinking and feeling. It's time. She knows.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
There's some nice Spalison bonding for ya. Last chapter was Emily working through her obstacle to trusting Alison. And this chapter was Alison working through the obstacle of trusting herself. Now these two can finally have that much awaited talk and get together!
I gotta admit, 7x14 threw me off my game a little. But hey, in Sasha and Shay we trust. If our captains are happy with the way Emison turned out, then we gotta have hope because there's more to the story.
Until next time, tell me what you think about this chapter! What would you guys want to see when our favorite couple finally talk? Which moments are you dying to see them address?