No One's POV
The week following Ali's birthday dinner was a hectic one...for everyone. Not only where each of the girls harboring a secret from the other, but their friends had taken part in their own secrets from the girls, especially Emily.
And with things coming down to the wire, the three friends were having trouble keeping their secret favors and personal lives separate, especially Hanna.
"Hanna, I already told you stop calling all the time and please stop texting me every hour, Emily could pick up the phone one day and just read what we've been talking about."
"Ali really? You expect me to follow your strict, call me only at this time schedule."
"Yes! That's why I made it for you."
"Ugh, okay but I just have to tell you okay, when we were hiding in your kitchen, I may have let something small slip before you got home, and I know Emily is getting suspicious, she's been texting Caleb about where I am, not to mention she's visited Toby twice in the last 5 days. When is it going to be July already?"
"Look," Ali looked around herself to make sure she was out of earshot, "Emily said that tomorrow, she's taking me somewhere special for my birthday, I don't know where that is, but I think I might just bring her my gift too."
"What? I thought you were waiting for the beginning of July when you and her have like the whole month off?"
"That was the plan, but you know how romantic she can be, and if she's making this as big of a deal as I know she's trying to, I know she might have something else planned. C'mon, Emily has never not done something like this and gone completely overboard, this time I just want to give her something just as nice, I'm going to give her the tickets."
"Tickets?"
"Yeah, remember about the tickets to-,"
"Yes, of course I remember, shit!" Hanna started to pace in her room, remembering what theoretical questions Emily was asking her the day she made her try on dresses.
"Hanna, what's going on?"
"Nothing!" She said too quick and with a little shrill in her voice, "nothing at all, look, I'm so behind on these new pieces I should be sketching with Mark, I have to go."
"Okay but what were you just freaking out ab-,"
"Bye, talk to you later!"
"Okay," Ali said to herself, "that was weird."
"What was weird?" Emily came out of their shower with nothing but a towel on.
"Oh, nothing babe."
"Who was that?"
"Hanna, she was just telling me about the new collection she was working on."
"Oh," Emily said plainly.
"What was that?"
"What was what," the brunette defended.
"That what you just said."
"What do you mean Ali, all I said was oh."
"No, it was the way you said it."
"Well, what about the way I said it."
"What's the matter with you?"
"Me? I should be asking everyone else that question. Especially you."
"Me? What did I do? Babe, what are you so agitated about?"
Emily looked at the hurt expression on Ali's face and sighed, putting the comb that she was running forcefully through her hair, down, "nothing, nothing, I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just the girls have been acting strange for a long time now, and every time I ask them about it they think I'm being paranoid."
"Well, maybe you are? I mean I know work has been-,"
"No, no, no, not you too. Work isn't making me imagine that there's something going on with them. And you too."
"Me?! Em why would you think that?"
"Oh, I don't know, because maybe you and Hanna seem to have been spending a lot of time together and she's my best friend yet we haven't even talked much this whole week."
"Oh Em, that has nothing to do with you, Hanna has just been calling me a lot to ask her about my opinion on the new dresses she's working on. You know how much stress she gets under when her boss asks her to work on gowns."
Emily sat down at the edge of their bed and sighed, "yeah, I guess, but why hasn't she called me."
Ali swallowed to buy her mouth some time to make up an excuse, "uh, she told me about how you went to her shop and helped her with some modeling. Said you didn't like it so she didn't want to bother you with that stuff."
"She said that?"
"Yeah, she said she knows how busy your work life was and I told her about the late shifts you sometimes have to pull and so she just thought that I was a good substitute."
"Huh, okay."
"What?"
"What?"
"Why you'd you say it like that Em? What? You don't think I'm as good a friend to Han as you are?"
"What, no I never said that."
"Oh, but you were thinking it?"
"No, never, you know what?"
"What now?"
"Get over here."
Alison smiled and turned around, "no."
"Ali baby, I can practically hear you pouting. Come. Here."
Alison turned her head over her shoulder, staring hard at the practically naked woman in front of her and she stuck her tongue out, "I said no."
"Alison DiLaurentis, I am telling you to get your stubborn ass over here." Emily laughed in disbelief that Ali was able to keep this up this long.
"No," Ali replied, "you're going to have to make me."
There was no denying that Emily could hear the taunting in her girlfriend's voice, and she thought it was well deserved. However, she put her arms behind her on the bed, holding up her weight and tilted her head to the side, "is that so?"
"Yes, it is."
"And how do you think I'd make you?"
"You're a doctor, so you're smart, think of something yourself."
"Hmm, maybe I already am."
"Wha-,"
Alison turned around and her mouth almost fell open at the sight of Emily slowly bring her legs up to the bed, the towel parting inch by inch while Em's eyes stayed glued on Alison's. Watching the playful anger turn into something darker, sexier.
Emily smirked again, knowing a victory was soon coming her way, and she used one hand to drag across the swells of her breast, right where the towel was wrapped across.
"It's a shame really, that you're all the way over there, and I'm all the way over here." She dropped her legs and clenched them together, knowing it would drive Alison crazy.
"How long has it been baby? Four? Five days since we last had sex? Oh, I remember now, it was on your birthday. God, it feels like forever, don't you think."
Alison was still silent, but she had long since turned around to face her daring woman.
"You're not playing fair, I'm supposed to be mad at you for being an ass to me."
"Not fair? Yes it is, you know what they say Ali, all is fair in love and war. C'mon, I know you want to. We both have no where to be today, nothing to do, so what's stopping you?"
Alison groaned and her eyes started to rake over Emily's mostly naked form, not realizing that she had sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, nor that her eyes were beginning to glaze over.
"Tell me where we're going tomorrow and I will."
"No deal."
"Why not?"
"Tell me what all of you are hiding from me."
"No can do."
"Then no deal either way."
"Emily, don't be so dramatic, I told you what the phone calls were for."
"I don't believe that's all you guys talk about, you're all hiding something from me and I'm going to find out."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"No."
"No? Alison what-,"
"Tell me what's in your closet."
"My clothes, what else?"
"No, it was my turn to do our laundry two days ago and you didn't want me to go in your closet. So what aren't you telling me?"
"What? Nothing. I just didn't want you in my side."
"Your side? Emily since when is it not okay for me to be on your side, I live in half your shirts anyways."
"I know, and now I wanted you to stay in yours."
"Bullshit, after this many years?"
"Yeah," Emily shrugged a shoulder and in just a towel, Ali realized Emily was just not all that intimidating.
"I don't know why I'm asking you, when I can just go ahead and take a look right now."
Alison was running towards the closet before Emily had time to react.
"Ali, no, stay away from my shit!"
"Your shit is my shit, we live together," Ali called back from inside, and right before she could grab anything, long arms were wrapped around her waist and she was pulled forcefully from the closet.
"Ali, I said-," but Emily lost her words as she stumbled back over some shoes, flipped them around, dropped Alison to the floor who could just barely grab onto something to break her fall, and then landed on her poor girlfriend below her, both grunted out a loud, "ugh, fuck."
Emily looked up from Ali's chest and when she looked at the amused expression on her face and knew she wasn't hurt, both women started laughing.
They stopped for a second and when their eyes met again, the laughter started back up. It wasn't until Emily started to get a cramp in her stomach that she realized what had happened.
"You pulled off my towel."
Alison looked at her left hand and laughed at the white fabric in her hands, "well, it wouldn't be the first time."
Then Ali looked around at their feet still inside the closet space and chuckled, "you broke my high heels."
Emily looked down and cursed, "shit, I really liked those on you."
"You did? But you never let me where them out."
"Yeah and? Those heels were for me to see you in, not the world."
"Em," Ali hit her arm.
"What, you think I'd let you wear those outfits I bought along with them leave this room either?"
"Emily, those did not qualify as outfits."
"My point exactly."
"Oh, don't be smug. I'm still mad at you."
"Yeah? Well I'm still upset with you."
"Sure, but I already told you, you have no reason to be."
"Then do you know why the girls are acting weird?'
"I told you Hanna's just dealing with work related stress, plus, she and Caleb are really trying to have a baby."
"Yeah, things I could handle, but if that's what you say, then that's what you say."
"It is what I say, stop reading into this so much."
"Then tell me why Spencer and Aria are acting weird around me too."
"Spencer, but I didn't think-," but Ali watched Em's eyebrows raise and she cleared her throat, "I didn't think Spencer could ever act strange, and Aria well I know she's planning this big gala in July, so maybe she just stressed?"
"Funny that you say that about Aria though, she never mentioned a gala in July."
"Oh, well...that's because she asked me to tell you. Yeah, yup, I must have forgotten to mention it."
"Yeah, you probably just forgot."
"Em, I bet I know one way I could get you to stop interrogating me."
"Try me."
Alison quickly rolled them over and leaned down to Em's earlobe, "we can level the playing field and get me out of these clothes?"
"Uh huh," Emily said, trying to keep her composure, "and then what?"
"And then...," Ali started to laugh again and before Emily could ask why, Ali popped up, grabbed Em's jacket by the floor and ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind her before Emily could even blink.
"Alison, what the hell? Open the door!"
Emily grabbed her towel again and covered herself up, wondering which jacket Alison had grabbed. She had different things hidden in the pockets of different jackets, and if Ali looked into the wrong one, well, the game was up, Emily would be busted.
"No," the blonde called from the other side, "I know you've been hiding something from me too, and I'm going to find out what...," there was a long pause and Emily's heart stopped in her chest before she heard Ali finish, "it is."
"Alison, Alison I can explain." But the truth was Emily didn't know what she'd be explaining because she didn't know what it was that Alison found.
Emily held her breath and sighed when she finally heard the lock click.
Hesitant about what she might find on the other side, she took a deep breath before placing her hand on the door knob and finally turning it, eyes clenched shut until the door was all the way open.
Her girlfriend was perched on the closed toilet seat, facing away from Em.
"Ali, listen I can explain." Again, she didn't even know which explanation she'd have to use.
"Where did you get these?"
"Get what?"
Emily walked closer and peered over Alison's shoulder, but before she could get a good look Ali spun around with a huge grin on her face and a tear in her eye.
"These." She held up a small stack of pictures and Emily sighed.
"Oh, I've been having those, I remembered they were on my old phone, the one I found a while ago. I took it to Caleb to see if I had anything on them and he found those, I sent them to Aria and she printed them for me. It was just 3 of them, but still, I wanted them here."
"Why didn't you show me them?"
"Well," Emily put her hand behind her head, "it was going to be a surprise."
"A surprise? For what?" Ali looked down at the pictures, one was of her and Em, laying on a checkered blanket in a field some where, obviously a selfie Em took. There was a huge grin on her face and Ali's head was buried in the crook of her neck.
The second was of them, again taken by Em's outstretched arm, sitting in a tire swing together, just looking at each other, making funny faces.
"The last time we were here was right after we got back together."
Emily nodded and they both laughed at the last one.
"Yeah, and I promised you we would never break up again."
"And you made me jump this damn cliff again to prove that I trusted you."
"And you made me walk through the woods blind folded!"
"Okay, okay, I guess we're even." Ali set the last photo of her atop the same cliff they jumped in highschool and sighed.
"Why were these going to be a surprise? They're just pictures."
"Well I was going to give them to you somewhere else. Not have them snatched from my jacket and opened in our bathroom."
"Well if not here, then where were you planning on- OHMYGOD." Alison came to the realization that-
"Yeah, see why I didn't want you to find out? Ali, baby, you really do not like surprises."
Alison shrugged, because if Emily really believed that, she wouldn't believe what she would give her over the weekend.
"Em, I can't believe we're going back! It's been years, I can't wait."
"Well yes you can, we're leaving tomorrow morning remember."
"Yes, yes, but why can't we leave now? C'mon let us go right now, why wait? We bough the place, we can go whenever we want."
"You're serious?"
"Yes, of course, I am."
"Well I mean I guess we can go a day early, neither of us have work or a date with any of the girls so..."
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes. Yes then, it's a yes."
Alison stood and wrapped Emily in her arms, pulling back to kiss her on the mouth hard, "damn, and I wanted to have sex with out there on the floor, guess that will have to wait."
"Wait what? Why? I mean it's going to take a while to pack and then we have to go get some food for a few days, tell the girls we're leaving. I think we'll have time."
"Oh, I know we will."
"Then?"
"Well I also found these." Alison held up a small ziploc bag and waved it in front of Em's face.
"So as much as I really want to Em, remember how good it felt when we did it after a few of these?"
Emily licked her lips, "those were supposed to be for this weekend too, Ali."
"You wanted to re-do the last time we were there?"
"No, not re-do, I just thought we could re-live everything." Emily smirked and shrugged, "it's been a while since things were...that intense, and you know how we get in that place."
"Yeah, you're right, it hasn't let us down yet has it?"
"Nope."
"Okay, well I'll hold on to these, and our pictures. You get some clothes on before I make you regret not listening to me and I'll start packing. I want to be out of here and on the road in an hour."
"An hour?!"
"Yeah, c'mon the faster you get ready, the sooner we can share one of these and the sooner I get to get out of these clothes."
Emily swallowed, "we'll be ready in 45 minutes."
"That's my girl."
x-x-x-x
"Ali, Ali we're here babe." Emily was softly nudging Ali from her slumber against the car door.
They had made it out of the house in a record 43 minutes and stopped at Jay's Goods for groceries before Emily filled up the tank and drove the hours necessary to get here.
"Ali, wake up."
Alison finally started to come to, when she opened her eyes, "I love waking up to your face."
Emily laughed, "yeah, same here babe, wake up now, we're here."
"Already? But we just left?"
"No, we left hours ago, you've been sleeping."
"I fell asleep?
"Yes you goof, how else would you be waking up?"
"We're here?"
Emily quickly got out of the car, jogged to Ali's side and unbuckled her, helping her to get out and onto her feet, "yup, look."
Alison yawned once, rubbed the sleep from the corners of her eyes and blinked, "mmm," she hummed, "we're back."
"Yeah, here we are. The place where it all started for us...Lover's Peak."
"Then let's go be lovers in that bed, I've missed so much," Ali said and then grabbed Emily's wrist, kicking the car door shut with her foot, before dragging them up the hill to the front door."
"But babe, our stuff."
"Our stuff, is fine, what you should be worried about is how you're going to keep up with me."
x-x-x-x
"Em, what's for dinner, I'm hungry."
"Stop yelling, I'm trying to find my shoes."
"I don't want to eat your shoes, I want real food," Alison hiccuped in the cloud of smoke she was breathing in and started to laugh uncontrollably, "wait were you going to feed me a shoe babe?"
They were currently sitting in the middle of the bed, naked, and tangled in each other's legs and the white sheets, Emily's head ducking under the sheets again and again.
"No goofball, I was going to go outside and get some food from our car."
"The car? We drove here?"
Emily stopped and looked at the confused look on her face, "did we smoke it all?"
Alison looked around and shook her head like a child, tangling her long hair in the process, "no, we only did like 3 joints, and then when I found your other stash, we made brownies remember."
"Yeah, you did good baby."
"Mm, why can't we just eat those?"
"I think we ate them all."
"Then let's make more."
Emily smirked and in her less inhibited state of mind from the weed, she was even more bold, "why can't I just eat you?"
Alison's reddened eyes narrowed and she smirked before grabbing another joint on the bedside table and lighting it, "we haven't done this since college."
"I know, that's why I thought with this break, we could do it now, remember?"
"Mm hmm," Ali placed the rolled paper in between her lips and flipped the lighter, cupping the end of the joint to lite it. And when she finally did, she tossed the lighter and took a long drag. Holding out her cheeks and holding in her breath while beckoning Emily with her finger.
Too far gone to realize what Ali was doing when she grabbed the back of her head, Emily's mouth opened in surprise around Alison's and the blonde was happier for it, blowing the smoke held in her mouth out, while on instinct, Emily inhaled it back in.
When the exchange was complete, Emily poked her tongue out of her mouth and traced the outline of Alison's lips right before tilting her head and kissing the blonde with no restraint.
Ali had to push Em away with her free hand just to breathe.
"Shit, Em, let me catch my breath."
"Did you just shotgun me?"
"Yeah, I did why?"
"Because that was so fucking hot."
"Yeah?"
"Fuck yeah."
"You want me to do it again?"
"You bet your ass yes."
Ali smirked and licked her lips seductively.
Growling from the visual Emily pushed Ali back into the bed, watching the blonde bring the joint to her lips and suck in another deep breath.
And Emily didn't waste time bringing her lips flush against her girl's mouth and sucking in the taste.
After a moment, Emily laid beside Ali and crossed her arms behind her, across her head, "Ali?"
"Yeah babe?"
"You ever think we'd be here?"
"What back here? Well yeah, we bought it for a reason."
"No," Emily laughed and turned so she was on her side, her hand under her head, "I mean here here, like the two of us, together here."
"You mean like did I ever think I was going to be with you?"
"Yeah, I guess. So did you?"
"Um, I guess it depends on when you would've asked me?"
"What do you mean?"
Ali looked around, blew out the joint and put it done on the bedside table again, "I mean if you asked me yesterday, I would have said yes, last week: yes; last month or year: yes; but if you asked me when I was in high school, or when I came back or that time we were apart for college...well I wouldn't have said yes."
Emily nodded, "that makes sense."
"Why you asking me babe?"
"I don't know, I just was thinking, and I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be with you."
"Even when we broke up?"
"Yeah, deep down, I knew it even then."
"How, when we split, I thought we both knew it was for good?"
"So did I...for the first week or two, but then I started to see in everything, everywhere I went you were there."
"I was," Ali asked amazed, "how was that possible?" Ali and Em were both still loopy from the drugs but Emily found the back and forth between coherent and not so coherent somewhat adorable in the blonde.
"In my head dork, I could see you when I slept, and when I went places, when I smelled anything like you. That's how I knew I could tell myself all I want that I moved on, but I couldn't lie to myself about something that big."
"Oh shit, that's crazy."
Emily laughed and pulled Alison closer to her body. The sincerity of her words sobering her more and more as each second passed.
"Yeah, that's crazy," Emily laughed, combing her hand through Ali's hair.
"I saw you too you know," Ali yawned and poked Em's cheek, "I hated you for it, for not leaving me alone. I hated you because I loved you so much and that hurt."
"I know Ali, I'm sorry."
"Me too."
"Promise me something?"
"Anything."
"Promise me that you'll stay with me for as long as it takes to make your dreams come true."
Alison smiled and giggled, "well that will be easy then silly."
"Why's that?"
"I want to be old and grey with you. Die with you, so I think that's going to be forever."
"Ali, we can't live forever."
"No, but we can go away forever...remember?"
Emily's face lit up and she pulled Ali even closer, "of course I do." Her hands were itching to grab the envelope in the drawer in the small table on her side of the bed.
"I said it would be you and me in Paris."
Emily nuzzled her nose against Alison's, "and I asked you how long we'd be going away for?"
Alison yawned again and her lids started to lower, "I said 'how about forever.'"
"That's right, you said how about forever."
"Sucks we haven't gone to forever yet."
"Ali, wait don't fall asleep, I thought you were hungry?"
"No," she closed her eyes all the way now, "you can just make me a big ole breakfast in the morning. It's time to sleep now."
"Wait babe, what if I told you I got you another surprise?"
"No...more...surprises," Ali whispered, her voice getting lower and lower.
"Ali, Ali wait, but they're tickets to forever...a forever with me. What do you say?"
Alison shook her head, "I say...," her voice dropped to a mumble against Emily's chest, "I say, I have some tickets too."
"What? What'd you say? Ali?"
But Emily wasn't going to hear again, what Ali had said. She couldn't understand her the first time and with sleep taking over her body, she wasn't going to be able to wake her up anytime soon to find out either. In fact, all that escaped Ali's lips now, was the even breathing and the occasional snore.
x-x-x-x
The next the morning was rough for both Alison and Emily. They both woke up with this forgotten throbbing in their heads and grumbling stomachs.
Emily was the first to wake, Ali's thrashing around in her sleep startling her awake. Then the urge to pee and the hunger cramps forced her from the bed and into the bathroom and kitchen.
She sat at the counter for a few minutes, replaying the nights events in her head. It was somewhat foggy after the effects of the weed kicked in but see was able to see through most of the haze and remember the laughing, the swimming, then the hot shower together, the wild sex and just before the night ended, Emily remembered-
"EMMMM!" Ali shouted and groaned from their room.
Emily laughed lightly and dropped her head, "yes Ali?"
"Why aren't you in bed with me?"
"Because I'm in the kitchen!"
"Well then why aren't you in bed with me with food?"
Laughing again she answered, "because I haven't started cooking yet."
"Then why the hell are you in the kitchen in the first place?"
"Why are you yelling?"
"Ugh," there was a thump with Emily quickly associated with Ali falling out of bed and onto the floor and then Ali was up to her feet, making her way towards Em in the kitchen, "you know what," she started from the entryway, "I don't appreciate you not feeding me since yesterday morning and then telling me to shutup when I wake up."
But the brunette was hardly listening to her girlfriend, instead holding her hand over her mouth and trying not to laugh.
"What," Ali scolded, "why are you laughing?"
"Look at you," Emily pointed at Ali's entire outfit, getting the blonde to check out what the fuss was about.
She was clad in one of Emily's shirts, granted it was backwards and flipped inside out, some of Em's old sweats which were far too long and hing loosely on her hips and one fuzzy purple sock, not to mention the state of her bedhead which had her golden tresses in an unruly mess.
"What? I look fine."
"Yeah, for a child who got dressed in a dark room."
"Well you didn't open the blinds for me, it was technically dark in there."
"Come here."
"Oh," Ali placed her hand on her hip, "are we started that again?"
"No," Em shook her head with a grin, "we're not. You want to know why?"
"Not really, I just want to know why my hot girlfriend isn't standing her pretty ass over that stove making me food that I can eat until I barf."
"Well I'll tell you," Emily continued, completely ignoring what Alison had said, "because if your gorgeous ass wants some food, you're going to come over here and sit by me first."
Alison grunted and seemed to struggle with what to do next until she dropped her shoulders in defeat and shuffled herself towards the counter, plopping down grumpily into stool beside Emily, "there, you happy? Now I would like some eggs, and bacon and pancakes please. Chocolate or blueberry."
"Wait, wait I promise I will make us some food, but I want to ask you something first."
"Us? I said feed me, not you."
"Ali!"
"Okay," the blonde laughed, "what?"
"Do you remember what we were talking about last night?"
"What? You mean like why we didn't bring bathing suits? Or shampoo?"
"No I mean when we were in bed."
Alison's eyes opened and then she smirked devilishly, "oh you mean like when we were doing those things to each other and I-,"
"No, Ali," Emily said in comic disbelief, "you know what," she asked feeling defeated, "nevermind."
"Emily, I'm sorry but we were so baked last night, I don't remember all the details. The last time we did that we were kids, and young, I don't know that I can handle the same shit we used to do."
Emily turned around and quirked a brow suggestively.
"Em, you know what I mean! God what's wrong with us?"
Emily chuckled and walked to open the fridge, "I think we're perfectly fine the way we are."
"Aw, don't get all mushy on me, my brain is still waking up."
"I wasn't being mushy, I was serious."
"Yeah, Em, all the more reason to say that it was mushy, I know you meant it."
"Whatever, so did you want blueberry of chocolate?"
"Hmm," Ali placed her hand under her chin and smiled wide, "how about both?"
"You're impossible woman."
"Nope, just hungry."
"Well then, how about you help me by cracking some eggs into a bowl?"
"Do I have to?"
"Division of labor babe, it's only fair."
So with no more banter to be thrown, Alison slid out of her stool and went to the cupboard for a bowl and then the fridge for eggs.
She whisked the eggs and minutes later somehow convinced Emily to make omelettes with mushrooms, cheese, ham and spinach out the all too 'plain' eggs. And that's where Emily was, flipping pancakes, omelettes and thick slices of applewood smoked bacon while Ali sat at the table and watched full of amusement.
"You could help me you know?" Emily suggested when everything was almost done.
"I could but, you look good cooking for me, I wouldn't get the same view as I do here, if I was over there."
Em shook her head and mumbled under her breath.
"What was that Emily?"
"Nothing, how about you get us some plates, everything is ready now."
"Nope, you're closer."
One look into those big blues and Em succumbed and grabbed the plates herself, making sure to give Alison an uncharacteristically larger amount of food than herself.
But it was all worth it when Emily sat down and watched Alison praise the food and Emily each time she shoveled another forkful into her mouth.
They ate in silence, Emily watched Alison and Alison watching the food on her plate disappear.
"So," Ali said minutes later over her mostly empty plate, "why did you want to know if I remembered what we were talking about last night?"
Emily was just about to put a piece of bacon in her mouth, but put it back on her plate to look at her girlfriend. It was the first time Ali said anything in the last 10 minutes other than the strangled, "ermahgerd, ohyessh, or sooogewd."
"Uh, just curious."
"Why? Did we have that much of a titillating conversation that you wanted to discuss it again."
"Hah, I guess you could say that."
"Well you seem to remember better than I do, why don't you tell me what we talked about then?"
"What? No, no, it's fine. Finish your food, then we can talk."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not," and Em put her hands up in defense, "when you get done eating, I will tell you what we were talking about okay?"
"Hmm," Alison squinted her eyes and reached over to Emily's plate for that piece of bacon, "okay fine."
"Good," Em sighed, "and did you really have to take my last piece of bacon? I gave you 4 more pieces than me already!"
"Yes, I had to, I heard it calling my name."
"God, you're ridiculous."
"Yeap," Ali groaned and leaned back in the chair, patting her pushed out stomach, "my belly is so full. This is what I would look like if I was prego. Ew, you wouldn't want me."
Emily stopped chewing on her eggs and looked at Ali, and although she was only just playing, Alison looked perfect to her. If Alison was ever pregnant, if they ever had a...Emily shook her head and smiled at Alison, "if you ever looked like that, for any reason, I would still love you all the same."
"Mushy Em, mushy."
"What, I can't be...'mushy'?"
"No, not when I'm like this, give me a chance to say something back."
"Well say something back now, you're fine."
"No."
"C'mon try."
"Fine...you know what really turns me on about you babe? It's when you are all hot...and dirty...and you're working really hard...because you're so good..."
"Yeah?"
"In the kitchen!"
"Alison!"
"What? You said mushy! I wasn't going to compliment the sex beast in you!"
"That was not mushy."
"Was too, you're a great cook babe, I get the tingles when you cook for me."
"The tingles?"
"Yeah, the tingles."
"Whatever, I guess I should just wait afterall."
"What? Why? Did you want me to tell you that there's this crazy hot sex beast in you?"
"No," Em smirked, "the only 'crazy hot sex beast' in me..."
"OKAY! I'm fine, totally coherent, you don't talk like this unless you're trying to get something from me."
"I actually don't need to get anything from you...it's actually quite the opposite."
"What you need something out? Sorry but the only thing you can get out of me is probably gonna be this food in a few hours, so you might want to take a rain check."
"No you fool, I want to give you something!"
"Oh, oh, well no."
"No?"
"Yeah, no. No more surprises."
"No, I have to give you one more."
Alison rubbed her forehead and remembered that this would actually be a good thing. She had been expecting Emily to get her something again, so now she would have something to give her back.
"Okay," she agreed, "but on one condition only."
"Okay, anything, you name it."
"I get to give you a surprise back."
"What? No this is your weekend. For your birthday. You can't give me anything."
"Yes I can. I wanted to wait to give it to you but I don't think I can anymore, plus you really went over the top with my birthday this year babe, with the necklace and the party and bringing us here, think of it as me saying thank you and that I love you."
"No, I don't accept."
Ali crossed her arms, "then I don't accept your surprise."
"Not fair, it's your birthday, I get to give you things, not the other way around."
"What's that you told me the other day? Oh, riiiiight, all if fair in love and war baby. And this means war."
"Really," Em mused, "I thought this was love?"
"Don't change the subject, either you let me give you a surprise or you can hold on to yours until I say so."
"You can't do that."
"I can," Ali argued, "and you know I will."
They shared a short stare off before Emily threw her head back and conceded, "ugh, okay. Okay! Fine, we'll do it your way you stubborn little, have it your way or no way at all-,"
"Woman," Ali chuckled knowingly.
"No, I was going to say ass," Emily grumbled, stalking off towards the front door.
"Where are you going?"
"What," Em turned around, "you go through all of my stuff, all the time, I had to hide this surprise from you in the car."
"Why?"
"Did you not just hear me?"
"You don't trust me? I could've found whatever it is already and I could act surprised when you give it to me?"
Emily smirked over her shoulder while she grabbed the keys from the hook and snorted, "yeah right" then she opened the door and took in the sight, "I'll be right back."
When Emily walked away, Alison, even in her still clumsy state, rushed to their bedroom in record time, managing to only knock over two frames from the wall when she kicked the door open.
She ran to the floor, half crashing and falling over her suitcase to look for a pair of her shoes. While she knew she was nosy, she also knew Emily had a knack for 'finding' things herself, and since they didn't wear the same size shoe, nor did Emily indulge in Alison's more feminine fashion sense, Ali knew anything hidden in her shoes were safe from her girlfriend.
Alison rummaged through her bag, finding her shoes at the bottom where she crammed her hand inside and pulled out a flat envelope, thankful that it wasn't bent nor smashed. Once in had she got to her feet as fast as she could and ran back into the kitchen, granted almost slipping on account of the one fuzzy sock still attached to her foot.
As she sat down, huffing heavily for air, Emily just walked back in and shut the door, putting the keys back on the hook. She was clad in short women's boxer shorts and a college crew neck sweater that had of course been worn out by years of studying, sleeping and who knows what else in.
One hand was hidden behind her back and as she approached Alison, she realized she was doing the same.
"Ali, can we sit in the living room?"
Alison watched Emily walk backwards toward the other room, careful not to reveal what she was hiding and Ali waited until the doctor was seated before she got up and took the spot across from her.
"You know how this works."
Emily dropped her head and groaned, "Ali for once, can we just do this my way?"
"Hmm, how about no?"
"How about yes or else I won't cook for the rest of the time we're here," and sensing Ali was going to butt in, Emily continued quickly, "and don't threaten me with sex because you and I both know you can't resist...it's never worked before.
And as if her mind was read, Ali snapped her mouth shut and squinted angrily, "fine," she said in a low voice.
"What was that?" Emily had heard Ali well enough, but it was rare that she ever won any arguments so she had to cherish the moment.
"Fine," Ali muttered again.
"I couldn't hear you," Emily taunted, "did you say-."
"Emmmm," Alison groaned and half shouted, "I said fine, alright! Fine. We'll do this your way."
"Damn, where is my phone when I need it?"
"What for?"
"To record this moment and cherish it for as long as I can."
Alison rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat, smiling afterwards. "Let's just do this, I've been waiting to give you this ever since I bought it."
"And so have I, which is exactly why I want to do this my way."
"I already said fine, didn't I? Now you're just torturing me."
"Okay, well let me start by telling you why I was asking you if you remembered what we were talking about last night."
Alison nodded and scoot closer to the edge of the chair, closer to Emily.
"Okay, well what is it," Ali asked carefully.
Neither of them knew what was behind the others back and that gave each just the slightest hints of excitement and nerves, there was a word for that wasn't there, they thought.
"You're making me anxious Em."
"And you," Emily breathed in then out, "took the word right out of my mouth. I don't know why this is so hard to do." And herein lay another lie. Emily did know why it was hard and new and it make her heart jump yet feel like lead at the same time. It was because of the gift. Starting with the key necklace, this was just another gift in a series of things she wanted to give Alison. If this one went over well, well then she'd be anxious and on edge for a long time soon after...as well as extremely happy and impatient.
"Emily, you're doing that thing again."
"What," Emily responded in a daze.
"You're tuning out of the world and thinking too hard about something. Stop it."
But Emily was still wrapped up in the events to follow and her plan in a few weeks, that she only snapped out of it when Ali closed the gap between them and settled her free hand on Em's knee.
"What? What? Oh, yeah sorry Ali, sorry, I'm here."
"Yeah and know and you were just about to tell me what we talked about last night."
"Right, yeah...right, that."
Ali quirked a single brow, "that? Was it not a good talk?"
"What? No, I mean yes, of course it was a good talk, but now I'm thinking that I was just as baked as you and maybe I was hallucinating and made the whole thing up."
"The whole thing," Alison prodded.
Emily laughed, still uneasy and shook her head, "okay I know not the whole thing, but you know this part."
"Well maybe if you tell me, I'll remember and then you'll see that you weren't hallucinating."
"And if you don't?"
"Then, I'll probably end up saying the say thing anyway right? Confirm your suspicions."
"I don't know Ali, this was-,"
"You know what? You have three seconds to start talking or so help me God!"
"Okay, okay!" Emily shouted with a grin on her face that mirrored Alison's, "damn I hate it when you count down, you make me feel like a kid."
"Well, if you would just quit your rambling and spit it out already, I wouldn't have to."
"Fair enough," Em sighed, "but you're still evil."
"Bygones baby, bygones. Now stop wimping out, and speak."
Emily rolled her head around to stretch the tense muscles and she shook her arms out, leaving the white envelope hidden behind her back.
"Okay, right, okay, so last night, Ali, last night was amazing."
"Em, you already told me this, believe me, I know it was, I can still feel-,"
"No, would you shush already, now I'm talking and you try to interrupt, you're being rude."
"Ooo maybe I shouldn't have eaten your last piece of bacon, you're moody."
"Not the point, the point I was going to make was that it wasn't just last night okay. Every day and night with you has been amazing. I asked you last night if you ever thought you'd be here."
"Here? Like at Lover's Peak, well of course we bought the damn-,"
"No," Emily laughed, "you said that last night too, but no, that's not what I meant."
"Oh, then sorry, go on."
"I meant here, like you know we're well into adulthood, we're successful...," she paused and drew out her last word, and then smiled broadly, "and we're together. So you know, I just wanted to know, if you ever thought that this was how it would be you know? For you...for us?"
Alison smiled of her own volition, sorting through this cloudy haze in the back of her mind to conjure the image of Emily laying beside her last night asking her this, even in the slightly red in her eyes, Ali could see through to the overwhelmingly rich brown that always made her feel like she was home.
"I believe I said something like it would depend on the time right?"
Emily's head shot up and she grinned, "yeah, you did say that."
"Well, it's still true okay. Not until I knew I really loved you and you loved me back and I could accept that...not until then, did I dream of this for me," and then, "for us," she corrected.
"Dream?"
"Yeah, it's been a dream - since I fully understood what love and loyalty and friendship was - to have that with someone. Have a life or just share the moments in life together with someone I loved, someone who was my friend and who was loyal."
"And?
"And I'm happy that that dream and since came true since that very first time that we were here. That's the day I started dream and looking back now, I still haven't woken up from it yet."
Emily looked away and played with her lip in between her teeth and rubbed her hands together.
"And I don't want to wake up from it yet, Em. Do you hear me?"
Emily only nodded and took a deep breath, "andwhataboutyourotherdreams," she asked all at once.
"What?" Ali leaned back and tilted her head, "what about my what did you say?"
Taking a breath large enough to fill what was allowed of her lungs, Emily exhaled slowly to calm herself down, "I said...what about...your other dreams?"
"Other dreams?" Ali shook her head, "I'm not following."
"Uh, what about the dreams you had in high school?"
"What," Ali snorted, "to stay Queen B forever? Yeah, no thanks."
"No, I mean the one we talked about."
"The one we...oooooh." That part of last night still hadn't made it's way back to her conscious but she did remember the time in high school, "you mean the one time I got us in trouble and we had to stay late in class?"
"Yeah, and be quiet about that, will you? My parents still think we had to do homework and some lame on the spot project that no one in the class had time to finish."
"Tisk, tisk Emily Fields, tisk tisk."
"Oh be quiet, no one was a saint in high school. And back to what I was saying...again. I'm glad you remember, because I've been thinking about that day a lot lately."
"You have? Why?" Alison hoped Emily wouldn't notice the higher octave in her voice.
"Well we were in French, we both loved the idea of going someday and you brought up maybe going one day."
Alison swallowed and shook her head, remembering exactly what they said, "you told me that we were supposed to be studying."
Emily nodded.
"I just looked at you and I kept organizing those post cards on the desk for a while."
"Until I asked if you were planning a trip. There was this look of...longing in you eyes."
Alison smiled a soft and sweet smile and bowed her head, "you and me in sweet Paris," Ali said in a nostalgic tone, "how does that sound?" And suddenly Ali's hand around her envelope became very heavy.
Emily shifted uncomfortably in her seat and laughed, "you made me nervous, I told you maybe we should learn to parle français before we go."
"Et maintenant nous faisons, don't we," Ali whispered, swallowing back the lump in her throat, she was starting to think that maybe Emily had-
"Yeah."
"We could start in the south of France, dancing through sunflower fields, lounging around in our bikinis in the French riviera."
"Alison-"
"You'd look so good on top of the Eiffel Tower, the wind in your hair."
"Ali, I want to-,"
"I'm not done Emily. You got up from your seat and we reached for that card together, and what did you ask me?"
"I asked you," Emily stuck her hand behind her back to grab her envelope, "how long are we going away for?"
There was wetness in their eyes, and neither one of them wanted to believe what they were thinking.
"Right," Ali spoked quickly now, "and what did I say?"
"Ali, that's not fair, I was supposed to do that talking. Can I just give you your-,"
"Emily, what did I say?" And after a pleading look, she added,"please."
Sighing, Emily tightened her grip on the envelope and looked down at the carpeted floor. The air between them was thick and charged and she could only smile wide and whisper gently, "how about forever?"
And when Emily looked up and finally lifted her head to look at Ali, her eyes widened as she saw Alison in the same position, holding out a white envelope with her cursive handwriting across the top, "to forever."
Emily choked back a sudden sob and flipped her envelope over, with her handwriting etched across, that read, "to you and me in sweet..."
"Emily, if that's what I think it is..."
"Ali, and if that is what I think it is..."
Both women's eyes met and they snatched the surprises from the others hands, lifting the unsealed flap and almost gasping with surprise and somewhat annoyance.
"Did we just-,"
"Buy each other-,"
"Tickets?"
"Yeah."
"To...?"
"Uh huh."
And shook their heads and together muttered, "Paris."
x-x-x-x
AN: oh shit, I know it's been forever, but I don't want to bore you with the sad details of why it took me so long to bring you an update. The point is, I apologize, like I normally do, and I would just really love to hear from you all, it's been too long! So drop some thoughts/comments/reviews and tell me what you thought and I'll get back to you with Ch. 47 by the end of this month. Promise lol.
P.S. if you think I should write a second book to this one about all that time that they spent broken up and how and why that happened, let me, know!
Love you all, and be kind to each other, xo Lina