The first stab of love is like a sunset , a blaze of color - oranges, pearly, pinks, vibrant purples..

Sincere words can act like glue, mending the broken pieces. Loving touches can make the cracks vanish. Emily understood it now, She understood everything. The first love, which hurt her but transformed her also came back to save her, mend her. Her heart which used to ache, the one which she could hear crack inside her, felt like it has finally started to heal. The moments she shared with Ali before she vanished in thin air always meant a lot to her, but somehow their memories felt hollow, because she knew all of that never meant a thing for Alison and she was just another rat in her lab to experiment with, and play with, to practice for the 'real thing'. But now, after Alison said those words to her, she feels different, those same memories which felt hollow , colourless are now the best thing that ever happened, revisiting each memory she can clearly see what Ali was trying to make Emily understand through her silent words. The memories which felt like a cold winter night, making her shiver with uncertainty, Now feel like a summer afternoon when you go to a park and lie down under a tree, close your eyes and let the sunlight play with the leaves of tree casting beautiful shadows on your face, warming your heart.

Emily Fields always knew that Alison Dilaurentis was a fox - clever, charming, dramatic, charismatic, mysterious, influential and she was a lamb - coy, shy, quiet, thoughtful, Someone always away from the limelight. If you had to divide the girls of Rosewood into categories there were just two, One who worshipped Alison and wanted to be like her or better wanted to be her, And others who hated Alison and wanted her gone so that maybe they could take her position one day. Emily Fields fell in none of the categories, when everyone wanted to be like her, she just wanted her.

That is when she knew that she was different than others.

Her insane infatuation with her best friend turned into first love in a matter of an evening, the evening when after her swim meet for which Ali stayed and cheered on (In hind sight, she realises that Ali never missed any of her swim meets), All of the girls went to the brew to celebrate the victory and Emily's new record time, later everyone left and Ali walked home from school with her. It was late in the evening, the sun had just set and the lamp posts which adorned the street flickered open to give the effect of spot light where they stood. They hugged goodbye to each other when they had to take different roads to their respective houses. The hug which lingered on for a few extra seconds, when they were disengaging themselves from the embrace Ali's hand stayed at the small of Emily's back, their movements became slow like none of them wanted this to end, and even before she could register her lips were locked to Ali's, she doesn't know how it happened, who initiated it, pretty sure she leaned in too, last thing she remembered was looking into Ali's ocean blue eyes. The moment got over as soon as it came by. Ali quickly turned away and left, she stood there for sometime frozen in that position trying to remember every single detail of what happened, the look on Ali's face, the touch of her lips, her intoxicating fragrance, the orange glow of the light from the lamp post.

Alison Dilaurentis was a beauty and a beast all in herself, her claws came out whenever someone challenged her authority.

It was the start of the summer of their freshman year, they all went to Noel's cabin for a party Alison invited all of them to. After a few shots of vodka they were all a little buzzed, all of them headed in different directions, Hanna was in conversation with Sean, Spencer and Andrew discussed their club meetings, Aria was also somewhere Emily couldn't find her, because her attention was on this enchanting blonde who turned heads in whatever direction she walked on. She saw a few guys swoop in trying to strike a conversation with her. Emily felt a tap on her shoulder, she found a guy towering over her whom she recognised as a member of school lacrosse team. He talked, she replied, he flirted, she smiled, he made a move, she denied him, he did not take no for an answer, But before she could rebel, she found a hand curling over her wrist, and she saw Ali's claws coming out and tearing the no name guy down. She turned to Emily and probably saw the hurt, fear and disgust over the guy's acts written all over her face because she quickly wrapped Emily in a tight hug, holding her as close as possible. She whispered against Emily's neck slowly, quietly "Mine". Emily can still remember the feeling she got from hearing Ali's possessive tone, that feeling of something filling you and emptying you all at once.

That summer was their summer of romance, without that label on it. Revisiting those memories feel like she is repainting them, the black & white memories are full of vibrant colours now.

Sleepovers were always a bit of a scary deal for Emily, since she became aware of her love for her best friend and since she has been shot down cruelly. She was well aware of the fact that she was a messy sleeper, Ali's insistence and tricks to sleep next to her never helped her cause. She used to stay up late trying to figure out a way that she won't end up closing that small distance between them whilst sleeping, she never found one.

One beautiful summer morning after their sleepover, she got up to the feeling of Ali's lips against hers, she felt a shiver and warmth running through her. She could feel their legs tangled with each other's, Ali's arm thrown over her torso. But, it ended within seconds and Alison got up and left so quickly, that Emily couldn't even process what had happened.

Thinking back and revisiting each memory is easy, she can feel blonde's confusion and struggle with her feelings. But, back then these were the things that frustrated her, made her doubt everything. Her sweet smile when it was just them two and her snide remarks in crowd, her innocent stares when no one was watching and her silence over their moments shared. Her eyes said something and her mouth recounted another tale. It always pained her to watch the blonde's shadow make an about turn from her, the moments when she let go of her hand, the moments when she walked away without looking back once. She thought she will never forget the nights she stayed up trying to make sense of what was going on between them, but now they don't matter she now looks forward to nights when Ali won't only be in her thoughts.

She remembers her lingering touches, her holding her hand during scary movies marathons, she remembers her carefree laugh, the glint in her mischievous eyes, her long flowing, halo creating blonde hair, these were her ghosts for the two years that she was gone. Those eyes used to haunt her dreams, that laugh used to ring in the radio of her head almost cruelly. She willed herself to move on, She repeated in her mind the chant that 'she has moved on' because you she had to, because you can't stay in love with a dead person. Underneath, she did not know if she ever will. She searched for all those things quietly in every single person she dated, her ocean blue eyes, blonde hair, her floral fragrance, she compared and failed because, those weren't the only things she missed about the blonde but most of all she knew there was no one like Alison Dilaurentis, nothing fazed her, she was kind of amazing.

She came back.

She kept her distance.

She was finally sure of her feelings.

She hated that she again felt fifteen.

She wanted to resign herself to her love.

She wanted to not be her pill for vulnerability.

Now she leans against the headboard of her bed, Does it even matter now? No. All she ever wanted since the day she knew and understood the concept of love is right there in her arms, trying to drift off to sleep. She will never forget this glorious day, when all her wishes came true. Yes! Wishes do come true.

"What are you thinking about?" Ali asked raising her head from Emily's chest and looking at her.

She smiled back at her and said, "Nothing."

She wrapped her arms around the blonde and squeezed her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her forehead she mumbled. "Goodnight."

Ali can't help the smile that creep up to her lips, She presses a kiss on Emily's chest where her heart resides, listening to her heart beat which is definitely her favourite sound now.

"I love you" she says, marvelling the ease with which those three words now tumble from her lips.

"I think I always will, love you." replied back so sincerely that it shocked Ali.

'Maybe she fell in love with the way Emily loved her, so purely.'

She thinks back to the quote she once read, 'Whatever our souls are made of, her and mine are the same.'

She believes in soul mates now.

She can lie back and rest for one more night in Emily's arms, and they will face the dangers of the world outside tomorrow, together.

They are the hunters, we are the foxes. And We Run.

Flash forward

Alison shifted to the west coast for her girl, because that's where her home is. Emily is her home. She knows how much Emily loves the water, the sun and the sand. The look on Emily's face whenever they are at the beach makes every thing worth it.

They are out on the beach on this particular day because Emily insisted for Ali to come along as apparently the weather is amazing today and it's both sunny and windy at the same time and she also teased the blonde for being lazy, and that just hurt her pride. Not that she was going to say no to Emily to go to the beach for a walk but that comment just made her get ready quickly. Emily just knows the correct buttons to press to make blonde do anything. This is both irritating and exhilarating to Ali depending on how Emily uses her power, Like it was exhilarating this morning when they were in bed and now it is just irritating.

When the brunette is done running around, playing with the water she makes her way to Ali who is standing by the shore watching her girl being her adorable self. She huffs when she reaches and stands in front of Ali.

"I got you something", she says digging her pocket and brings out a silver chain with a heart pendant and puts it into Ali's palm.

Ali looks at her incredulously, unable to bring herself to believe that she got so lucky in the love department. She looks at the pendant and there is a small EF+AD inscribed at the back of it.

"Emily" , Ali looks at her, speechless, Emily still leaves her breathless even after 6 years of being together. She thinks she falls in love a little more each day that she gets to spend with her brunette.

"May I?" Emily takes the chain from Ali's hand and gestures her to move so that she can put it around her neck.

"It falls just where it needs to be to rest peacefully against your heart, so you just need to breathe to feel my heart against yours now." Emily says looking deep into Ali's eyes.

They seal that promise with a kiss, as the waves of the sea reach and recede the shore. The world around them melts away, as their souls communicate with each other.

Author's Note:

Hey! There. So I came around with this update sooner than regular.

Your response to last chapter was amazing.

I can thank you all every single time for your reviews, follows and favorites. I love knowing what you thought about what I wrote and your constructive criticism is also always welcome.

So, I just wanted to go down their memory lane and visit important moments. I have not included the moments that you have already watched on the show. These are the moments I think went on between Emily and Alison before Ali disappeared. Other than that, I seriously believe that, that library kiss was not their first kiss, none of them looked hesitant enough. Emily looked more unsure and hesitant when they kissed in the 100th episode. First kisses aren't that easy and natural as the library kiss. She was kissing her best friend. (Come on!) Let me know if you agree or disagree.

In another news, I have some very important exams coming up. So, I'll be away for sometime. But, with me you can never know I might get bored or the mood may strike and I might just update. Just, don't keep your hopes high for a quick update though. I am sincerely sorry for that.

Anyways, let me know if you guys liked this chapter.

If you want, you can follow me, talk to me.

Twitter: rscotchlove

Tumblr: rscotchloveDOTtumblrDOTcom