Yay! Another update!
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It feels a lot like that scene from Mean Girls. Suddenly she's Cady Heron as Alison finds herself standing alone, eyes scanning the grounds looking for a place to sit.
The hustle and bustle of the cafeteria proves too much. She finds herself in the hallway, heading toward an empty classroom. She doesn't even bother waiting for the girls. She's not a clueless goober and figures after all the excitement from last night it's probably best to spend some time away from each other. At least she has the decency to text as she assures them she hasn't run.
She knows they're dealing with their own issues. Aria's still struggling with her conscience, Hanna with her identity crisis and her love triangle, and Spencer with her parent's separation.
She's adding enough to their troubles with her return and the new lies she's been spinning. It is bad enough she's lying to the cops and now Lt. Tanner is on her ass. She also lied about the Mona thing. She doesn't even know why she did. If anything, they would have probably congratulated her for slapping the midget. But once they asked what she did, the lie just came pouring out of her mouth.
And to sit with Emily was out of the question because she knows she shouldn't really push the girl anymore, not when they're dealing with the inescapable truth that they will always find their way to each other. It's a positive conclusion for Alison. She's had two years to come to accept her feelings and whatever consequences may follow. For Emily it's completely different. Alison's return from the grave is causing some serious emotional turmoil for the brunette. The athlete needs time to get a handle on things because she clearly needs to settle her feelings when in close proximity with Alison.
She felt the athletic brunette stirring all through the night. Her savior did not get a wink of sleep. She stayed up, keeping her eyes on the blonde the entire time as though she was afraid that if she closed her eyes, she'd wake up to find Alison gone.
Of course, they both know that's not the entire reason. The other reason is the fact that they've taken every opportunity to express their emotions for one another on a more physical level. For Alison, it isn't a bad thing considering her savior comforted her so well this morning. She finds herself thinking she'd take another hit on the head if it means having Emily touch her so tenderly.
But Alison isn't numb. She knows Emily still has her misgivings because after they take one step forward, the brunette begins to act skittish and takes twenty steps backwards.
Alison understands it isn't regret that's causing her savior to push away but disappointment. Emily doesn't regret their times together but she's disappointed in the blonde because it's been two years yet she still seems to be up to her old tricks. And Emily is equally disappointed with herself because her distrust isn't enough to keep herself away from the runaway.
It's clear to Alison that she needs to figure out a way to earn Emily's forgiveness and trust fast, preferably without having to resort to groveling.
She hasn't even been back a month and already things are going up in flames. Maybe Mona and her minions are right. She should just leave and never come back. She was stupid to think she could have a second chance, much less deserve one. And the bump on her head is proof that A has no intentions on making her return easier.
Movement catches her eye. She stares at the doorway and sees Caleb with a determined look in his eyes and she finds herself wishing she can catch a break.
"I'm not really in the mood for this." Alison moves toward the exit.
"Look, Hanna's spiraling down." Caleb starts as he blocks her way. "After everything you've put her through, will you at least have the decency to treat her like a friend instead of your doormat."
"What am I supposed to do?" her blue eyes flash in anger because she didn't ask for any of this. This isn't about Hanna getting caught in the crossfire between her and her enemies. It's about the other blonde's inner struggle and she's unclear what's expected of her. "Am I supposed to sit her down, tell her she's pretty?" she questions. "Or maybe I should tell her to dye her hair black next time, just to distinguish her looks from mine even more? Or maybe I'll dye my hair red to make things easier for her?" she's not trying to be unsympathetic, only spewing unhelpful scenarios. "Her major problem right now is with herself and there's nothing I can do or say to change how shitty she feels."
"You are every bit the cold selfish bitch everyone thinks you are." Caleb breathes in disbelief.
Perhaps it's Caleb that doesn't understand. Hanna is confused about whom she is and is hoping that when she figures her shit out, she'll be able to make a choice between who she really wants. She's searching for herself and having Alison talk about how much she approves or disapproves won't help her cause. It's a battle Hanna has to fight alone.
"You don't know me at all." she responds.
"I just know you from what you leave behind." just like everyone else, Caleb is quick to judge and categorize her and she understands why. He blames her for everything that's going wrong with Hanna. "You're like a tornado." he steps closer to her face and she doesn't flinch.
"I'm sure Hanna feels the same about you." she volleys because she's never been one to take insults lying down.
"Don't pretend you know how Hanna feels."
"I have a better inkling than you do." she knows why Hanna was so willing to help her run. The other blonde wants her gone and she can't really blame her because old insecurities have resurfaced and Alison's mouth surely hasn't helped her situation. "You can yell at me all you want but there's nothing you or I can do to help her." it's the truth, Caleb knows.
"I'm glad I came back to check up on her." he confesses.
"You came back for her." Alison corrects astutely as she sees a flash of black and blonde from the corner of her eye. "If you want to be with her," she begins to steer the conversation. "There's nothing wrong with fighting for her." he stares at her with something akin to amazement flashing through his eyes.
And suddenly it makes sense to Caleb, why so many would be drawn to the Queen Bee that is Alison DiLaurentis. Because underneath that beautiful face lays a lying, scheming, and manipulative mastermind who'd do anything to get her way. But behind her cold calculating persona lays an impression of a girl that's ultimately loyal to her friends. At first you think she's a rabid dog that's just going to infect you with the first bite.
But really, she's more like an alpha wolf, always clear to assert her dominance but ready to defend and care for her pack when necessary.
"It's kind of hard when you don't know who your enemy is." Caleb responds.
And somehow Alison knows he isn't talking about their predicament with A but rather, Hanna's internal struggle. As much as Caleb wants to fight for Hanna, he's uncertain of his chances because he can see how much his she's changing. Maybe he's fighting a losing battle.
"See what Hanna doesn't understand is, it's not the clothes, the hair, or the company you keep that make a person." Alison remarks. "I know it sounds absurd coming from me seeing as I lived and breathed by the rules of high school cliques." the comment earns a smile from Caleb. "But, I guess that's all part of growing up, wanting to find out who you really are, who you really want." it's probably one of the most difficult battles Alison's had to face, aside from A's attempts at her life of course. "She's already halfway there seeing as she dated an orphan boy." he's clearly someone the past Alison would have looked at as lower class.
And Caleb understands the meaning behind her words. Even though Hanna dressed, walked, talked, and practically breathed like Alison she was still her own person, able to make the choices that Alison would have ignored.
"Are you sure you can't give her this talk?" Caleb asks, throwing a grateful smirk her way.
"Hang in there," she leans and kisses Caleb on the cheek because she knows Hanna's had her eyes on them and has been listening to their conversation and if there's one thing Alison knows, it's how to manipulate a situation. She knows words aren't enough to sway her friend. "She'll come around sooner than you think." the display of affection will ignite that angry fire in Hanna that will allow her to see just the kind of person she is.
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She heads out of her class and out into the hallway. Flashes of Alison and Caleb are floating through her mind.
She shakes her head clear of those thoughts as she fumbles with opening her locker. Finally, she manages her task but as she stuffs her Physics book, she hears one of the girls from Mona's army whisper Alison's name and she can't help but listen.
"I bet Alison lied about being kidnapped." a girl says.
"Yeah, she probably ran off with some guy who hit it and quit it." another voice remarks.
"She was probably knocked up." the girl continues her story.
"Maybe she had an ab," and before the sentence is finished, Emily shuts her locker and storms over to the gossiping girls.
"If I hear you and your pathetic clique talk shit about Alison one more time," Emily gets right up in their face, her hands forming a fist as she struggles with herself not to beat the girls to a bloody pulp in the hallway. "I'll personally make your lives much worse than she ever did." she flares, ignoring the looks everyone gives her for her outburst.
It's so unlike Emily Fields to curse or make threats unless of course, she's doing it to defend Alison DiLaurentis. She races out of the hall before the onlooker's gazes can burn a hole through her head.
She gets to the school's front lawn and catches her breath. She's still fuming and there's no way to relieve her body of her frustrations. Just when she believes it impossible to get herself to calm down she hears that soft dulcet tone call her name and she can't help but turn at the source of the beautiful sound.
"Em, are you alright?" while Alison appreciates Emily's valiant efforts she knows it's not the chatter of Mona's mindless drones that has the brunette wound up. "Maybe we should get you home so you can get some sleep."
She's trying so hard to calm herself down but she can't stop the way her heart races at the sight of Alison DiLaurentis. That little fact just makes her even angrier. She sees those blue eyes staring at her in concern and it's driving her insane. How dare Alison? First she tells her that she shares the same feelings, then let's all the things that have happened between them happen, and then goes around kissing practical strangers.
"What the hell were you doing with Caleb?" she begins to whisper angrily. "Isn't enough that you got to Ezra and Toby, now you have to add him to the list too?" Emily rages, her jealousy fueling her, and Alison realizes that she saw what happened in the classroom. "I know she practically tried to run you out of town last night but after everything Hanna's done for you, this is how you repay her?" it's because of Alison's loyalty to Hanna that she did it in the first place. "Well aren't you going to say anything or did I not ask the right question?" she steps toward Alison. "Is Caleb the next person you're going to be spreading your legs for?"
Normally such an absurd allegation would make her scoff because she's never been into scruffy looking brooders and everyone knows this. But the fact that it's coming from Emily, her sweet loving Emily, makes her heart clench.
"You should know I'm not one to just offer myself to just anybody." her voice cracks as her eyes shine with desperation.
They search Emily's for the truth because if anyone knows who she really is, it's Emily. She's always seen the good in her even when everyone swore she was the devil incarnate. But those brown eyes look at her with so much anguish that it breaks Alison's heart again, knowing she's responsible for causing Emily so much pain.
"No, you only do that when you need to need something from someone otherwise, you'd probably have let me fuck you much sooner than you have." Emily states vehemently, ultimately tired of the games Alison keeps playing with her.
"Call me a slut all you want, but don't demean us." the look on her face almost makes Emily regret her words.
"You give me no choice." she declares because she's too exhausted to keep up with the blonde, the way they've been teetering up and down like two kids on a seesaw, and Alison realizes that she's pushed Emily too far and this time she probably won't be coming back.
"Then believe what you want to believe." Alison realizes there's no talking her way out of this.
"That's all you have to say for yourself?" Emily stares at her in disbelief.
"What's the point?" it's useless because the brunette has clearly made her mind up and she didn't want to have this argument in front of their school. "If I tell you the truth, you'll think I'm lying and if I lie, well I really don't want to test the limits of how much you can possibly hate me." she turns and begins to head toward the street.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Emily calls out but Alison merely ignores her. "Alison."
"If you think I'm just going to stand here and just listen to you degrade how I feel for you then you've clearly swallowed too much chlorine." the blonde tries to move away but Emily has other ideas. The athletic teen grasps her hands, interlocking their fingers in what seems to be a firm but painless death grip. "Emily let me go!" her demands are pointedly ignored.
She knows better than to put up a struggle as the brunette guides her toward the school parking lot. She's ignoring the stares being thrown their way because she can't bring herself to care.
"If you think for a minute that I'm going to let you out of my sight after what happened last night, then you clearly have been breathing too much hairspray." Emily states as pulls her toward the passenger side of her car. "Now, sit." she commanded as she opened the door. Alison remained still and Emily let out a growl in frustration. "I promise I'll shut up." and with that the blonde sat in the car, letting Emily drive them in silence.
Alison should take into consideration the account that Emily's still willing to drive with her but her mind is too preoccupied caring for her breaking heart. Emily's still livid but she's willing to be around the blonde. She knows it isn't safe for Alison to be going anywhere alone.
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Emily drives back to Alison's place and the blonde quickly heads into her house whilst the athlete retrieves her things from the trunk of her car. Mr. DiLaurentis is probably staying late at his office again so they're glad they won't have to deal with questions and act like everything's alright.
As the brunette sets her overnight bag in Alison's closet, the blonde picks up her calculus book and begins to do her work.
Emily attempts to do the same and finds herself stuck on the same problem for about ten minutes. To be honest, she's stuck because her mind's a little too preoccupied between actually doing her work and thinking about what happened with Alison.
She doesn't hear the shuffling from her bed because she's too busy tapping the edge of her eraser onto her paper.
Suddenly, she finds Alison sitting by her, leaning in to get a look at the problem she's struggling with. Wordlessly, Alison grabs the pencil from her hand and begins to work out the problem. Emily tries her best to keep her attention on the problem but she can't help but keep her eyes on the beautiful blonde that's showing her the answer. When Alison sets down her pencil, Emily focuses on the piece of paper in front of her.
"There." Alison doesn't move from her spot in case the brunette needs her to explain something.
"Thanks." Emily whispers as she begins to work through how Alison solved the problem correctly. "Is that what you did while you were hiding?" she brunette questions. "Brush up on your calculus?" the tone in her voice is a little teasing but mostly, it conveys her genuine interest.
"I didn't want to go through life a high school drop-out so I took a few online courses." she answers.
She realizes then, how much Alison's been working her ass off, not only with A but with school as well. She knows the blonde is smart, not a genius like Spencer of course, but she's easily the second smartest out of the rest of them. Hanna didn't do as bad as some might think, Aria of course excelled in English, and whilst she and Alison always had the same grades, it seemed the blonde never really had to try.
"That makes sense." Emily muses.
This was probably what Alison did in her free time, read and study, while she was on the run. Pride swells in her chest as she can't help but admire the persevering blonde.
While the blonde may not be able to transfer her records from her online courses, at least she'll still have what she's learned. She can use the lessons in their classes to better her chances at getting into a good college. No doubt Alison will rock her S.A.T.'s and Emily suddenly finds herself grateful that the blonde returned during the beginning of senior year.
Yes she'll have to catch up, but from the looks of things, Alison isn't too far behind academically. She briefly entertains the thought of possibly attending the same college.
It's an absurd thought, seeing as they're still on the run from A, but Emily can't help herself. Blue meets brown as Emily realizes she's been caught gawking at the blonde. They stare at each other for God only knows how long. The runaway tries to decipher the athlete's thoughts until Emily lets out a small laugh because after all this time, her world still revolves around Alison DiLaurentis. It's always been Alison and she realizes it will always be Alison.
"Emily?" Alison looks at the athlete.
"I'm sorry." she breathes after settling down. "It's just seeing you with Caleb like that made me see red." her confession earns her a nod of understanding.
"I think you mean green." the blonde teases.
"I'm sorry for suggesting that what we have means nothing to you." Alison releases a grateful smile. "I was angry and I was taking it out on you." the brunette continues with her apology. "I don't you know, hate you." there's a better chance of dinosaurs coming back to life than Emily Fields hating Alison DiLaurentis. She places her hand on Alison's thigh, squeezing it gently. Bright blue eyes shine timidly. "I could never hate you."
"I wasn't trying to hurt you or Hanna." she assures. "I was actually trying to help her." it's her turn to be honest.
"I get it." she probably should have guessed it to be Alison's underhanded attempt to make Hanna to get her act together by making her jealous. "I'm sorry for calling you a slut." she regrets every hateful word she threw Alison's way. "I can honestly say that it is extremely hard to get into your pants." the comment causes earns her a whack on her face with a pillow.
And just like that they're reduced to giggles as Alison continues her assault with the deadly pillow. Emily laughs as she catches the blonde's wrist and begins to guide her down onto the floor.
She grabs the pillow from Alison's hand before settling it underneath the blonde's head. The tenderness in her action brings a small thankful smile to Alison's face. The athlete finds herself reaching out to the runaway. She pushes the girl's golden cascading locks back, giving her a clearer view of the blonde's features. Her fingers caress the shorter girl's cheek affectionately.
It's kind of amazing really, how quickly they fall into one another. It's hard to believe they were arguing just a short few hours ago.
Emily finds her gaze locked on Alison's lips. The blonde offers her a winning smile of encouragement and she finds herself leaning. Their lips meet for what seems like the thousandth time and while they've been doing this a lot, kissing and touching, Emily always feels like it's their first.
To Alison, each kiss is different. Emily seems to always know what she needs, what she deserves, and translates the messages with her mouth quite well.
It's amusing, really, how they break apart and come together once again. Alison's glad that she has Emily in her life. Even though she's hurt her countless times, the athlete's still willing to protect the runaway. Maybe just maybe, she can save Alison from herself. And Emily will endeavor her very best because even though she lies and manipulates those around her, Emily will always love her.
It's true what they say one really can't teach an old dog new tricks.
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So yeah, I know the way I'm writing this fic is kind of a mess right now. I'm trying too hard to coincide my story with spoilers and what's actually happening on the show. I haven't quite decided how much I should keep doing it. I think I'm just gonna keep picking the things that I find interesting and try to shove them in my story.
I want to thank everyone for the follows and the reviews. Keep the comments and reviews coming! I really enjoy reading feedback.