Thank you again for your many kind words. For some reason it's not showing the reviews but I've been getting them emailed so I have read and appreciated all of them. I'm rather blown away by the response and the amount of follows. You're all just rather lovely people : )

So I didn't think I'd be getting another chapter out for a while but then I started writing tonight and this came out. Hope you enjoy, not going to lie, I felt this one got better towards the end.

Alison's alarm went off at 7am as it did every morning. It took time and effort to look as good as she did. She swung her arm out of her duvet and stroked the furry head that she knew would be there "Good morning boy" Then pulled the rest of her out of bed to begin her routine.

As she showered she found her thoughts drifting to a certain brunette, the brunette had come into her thoughts a lot lately. For the last 3 weeks if she was being honest. Ever since she'd called her on her lack of manners Alison had paid a lot of attention to her. Alison had been embarrassed when Emily had basically told her off like a child, her reaction was defensive. The truth was nobody spoke to her like that. Well if her family didn't count, and she didn't count them. Then when she'd pulled that stunt with coffee to save her, well Alison suddenly felt guilty about the way she had spoken to her that morning. She had no reason to do that, most people would have seen it as karma, enjoying watching her suffer through that line of questioning. So when the interviewer had gone off at her she suddenly felt the need to protect the woman that had just protected her, hence her sudden outburst. Then when Alison had finally worked up the courage to thank her in the car she had made sly dig at her earlier rudeness but she didn't dwell on it or seem smug. She didn't make her feel like she owed her anything, this made Alison pay more attention. Nobody wanted nothing from her.

She got out of the shower and went to start on her hair. Her thoughts moving back to Emily. Emily who had laughed when Alison accidentally threw paint down her, she would have been furious, Emily just laughed. Her laugh was infectious, she couldn't help but laugh with her. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed properly, she seemed to find herself laughing around her a lot. Something about her just brought joy. Shaking her head Alison thought about how stupid she'd been to offer her a drink. She wasn't sure what had made her do it. She just didn't want her to leave, she didn't know why. She didn't know why she answered her many questions, why she answered them honestly. Why she told her about Rollins. Something about the tanned girl made her feel safe to talk, to let her in. It wasn't until she felt her thumb gently stroking the tear away from her cheek that she remembered it was never safe, once again she acted badly.

When her hair was done she moved onto her makeup. She had tried to keep Emily at arms length after that. She remained cold, only speaking to her when necessary, but the funny brunette made it difficult to remain cold and unmoving. She was constantly making quips and jokes that made Alison smile or chuckle, not that she'd ever let her see that. So she stayed distant, until she saw her doing the crossword. Alison did the crossword every weekend without fail, she loved them. She loved puzzles and clues and solving the mystery, when all she ever seemed to talk about was makeup, clothes and Instagram it kept her brain working. That morning though she hadn't got her paper, so when she saw Emily pondering over it she couldn't help herself. She also couldn't help the way her heart beat a little faster and the blood rushed to her face when Emily turned to her, face so close she could feel her breath. It wasn't the proximity that caused those reactions, it was the way Emily looked at her, studied her face. She looked at her like she mattered. She'd noticed Emily staring at her sometimes, she knew she was gay, it didn't bother her. She was surprised at the information, she knew she shouldn't stereotype but she didn't 'look' gay. She never felt like she was staring at her in an objectifying way though, it wasn't like she was just looking at her, it was like she was really seeing her. The thought terrified her, made her feel far more vulnerable than if she was just checking her out. Then Emily had, she realised too late, paid her a compliment. Once again she acted badly, but Emily didn't let it slide, she never let it slide Alison mused. She'd got her told, not harshly, not meanly, just matter of fact. Alison knew what she was doing when she asked her to hold the paper and pen, she knew she wouldn't accept it if offered so she thoughtfully gave the girl an option she could comfortably take. She had felt the girls eyes on her most of the way back, not judging, not smug. It was like she was taking enjoyment in Alison's enjoyment. Even when she'd finally made a comment on their arrival it didn't feel mean, she was joking with Alison, not at her expense. That was when the last brick crumbled and she'd found herself joking back.

Putting the finishing touches to her outfit she headed down the stairs, Pepe at her heels. Emily's number one fan apparently. Who offers to walk their boss's dog on their day off? The same person who was sweet enough to make it possible for me to join them, to see that it would mean something to me Alison thought. That's where she made her thoughts stop, she didn't want to think about the way Emily had tilted her chin to meet her eyes and made her feel beautiful wearing sweats. Or the way her heart had sped up again in the park when Emily had stood so close to her she could feel her breath tickle her face. She was beautiful and funny and kind. That was it. She was easy to talk to and be with. She just admired her beauty, and now they were doing the 'friends' thing it was perfectly natural to be excited about seeing her today. That was definitely it.

She was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of the security system letting her know there was someone at the door. She looked at her phone, it was 9am, she wasn't being picked up until 10. She went to the system and clicked to see the camera. There stood Emily Fields, two coffees and a bag in her hands. It was almost as though she'd thought her into existence. Heading to the door she couldn't stop the smile that came to her face. She didn't even realise it was there until she opened the door.

"Wow, someone's happy to see me" Emily greeted.

Alison quickly recovered "This someone's excited to see breakfast"

"Ouch, you try to do something nice for a friend…" Emily feigned a hurt expression.

It had been a week since their trial started and it had gone better than Alison thought it would. It started with little things, actually greeting her in the morning and allowing herself to laugh at the amusing woman's comments. Throughout the week though it soon progressed to talking about her day during their many car journeys and complaining about the leery photographer. They had walked Pepe together everyday this week. She was amazed how easily they fell into the roles of Alison and Emily rather than Miss DiLaurentis and Fields. In fact it had started to bother her that they had to change roles at all. Like during a particularly boring lunch halfway through the week, when all Alison wanted to do was go sit with Emily and actually enjoy herself.

"Why are you here so early?" Alison's eyes shifted to Emily's left hand "What's in the bag?"

"It's nice to see you too" Emily dead panned

Alison just smiled sweetly at her, took the bag and headed to her kitchen.

"Bagels" Emily said following her in "Here's your coffee" She handed one to Alison.

"Thank you" Alison said, she had started making a conscious effort to be more polite around the brunette "but I'm pretty fussy about my coffee, I appreciate the thought though"

"Skinny vanilla latte with an extra shot, no whip, extra foam" Emily rattled off

"Well someone's been paying attention" Alison nodded her head, impressed. Why did she feel giddy at the thought of Emily paying enough attention to her to know her coffee order?

"Well it's kinda my job to notice things, I'd be pretty bad at keeping you safe from impending threats if I didn't even notice what coffee you drink every day"

With that sentence the giddiness faded. Alison took a sip of her coffee and went to grab them some plates.

"So you never said why you were here so early?"

"A couple of reasons. One, this is the last day of our trial and I wanted you to have no reason to end this friendship. Can't say no to a friend that brings breakfast" Emily wiggled her eyebrows playfully

Alison just rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee "What's the other reason?"

"Carter isn't able to work today, his father had a heart attack so he's had to go to Florida"

"Oh my god, is he ok? I should send something, do you have an address?" Concern lacing her voice.

She looked over at Emily to see her staring with a soft smile on her face and look in her eyes that Alison could have sworn was affection.

"As far as I know he's going to make it and your fathers office have already sent something according to your assistant that rang me this morning to let me know"

"Okay good"

"I didn't know you had an assistant, aren't they meant to follow you around all day, giving you everything you ask for and making sure the m&ms are all separated by colour?"

Alison laughed, "Pretty much" That was what her assistant seemed to do when she'd had one following her around. It didn't last long though, Alison found it irritated her too much and she didn't like having to spend that much time with the woman.

"So why have I never met Karen then?"

"We have an arrangement where she works from an office, organises my life and then just sends it to me electronically. If I need something I just message her and it appears. Trust me, we both prefer it"

Emily just nodded and took a bite from her bagel.

"So are you driving me today then?"

"I am"

"What about the party tonight? You were meant to have the night off, they've got their own security"

"Angelo is going to take you, whoever that is"

Angelo was her mothers driver, she didn't care much for him. To be honest she didn't care much for her mother, and if he was picking her up then it was looking like was going to have to spend some time with the woman tonight. She groaned inwardly at the thought.

The day went quickly, too quickly for Alison. She barely felt like she'd got to spend anytime with Emily at all. With Emily having to drive, Alison suddenly felt very alone in the back. Like something was missing. She'd overheard her on her hands free discussing her evening plans with a girl she presumed was Hanna. They were having a movie night by the sounds of things and Alison found herself wondering if Emily would ever have a movie night with her. Thoughts of being curled up on the couch with the brunette and popcorn were going through her mind, she shook herself. What the hell was wrong with her lately, this wasn't her. She wasn't a needy girl that imagined curling up with a friend watching films. She didn't even want anyone, never mind need them.

Alison's glam squad arrived not long after Emily dropped her off. The event was a birthday party for Noel Kahn, the son of a prominent New York judge. They were family friends so attendance wasn't optional her father had reminded her, before announcing that he wouldn't be going due to work commitments. Which meant it would just be her and her mother. She was listing in her head all the things she'd rather be doing that night when her phone chimed to say the car had arrived.

"You've put on weight"

"Hi to you too Mother" Alison smiled sarcastically as she climbed into the car.

"I'm just saying" Jessica DiLaurentis continued with pursed lips "Don't be surprised when the calls stop coming in."

Alison turned to look out of the window and pretended that the comment hadn't bothered her. The truth was it was all she could think about the entire journey. Such was her relationship with her mother. It was volatile at best, even when she did pay Alison a compliment it was back handed. Like the time she told her she was brave for trying to pull of that outfit with her figure. It was like every comment was designed to cut her down and hurt her. She had come to expect it by now, but it never made it hurt any less.

They arrived at the party without further comment on Alison's physical appearance. Angelo went to open Jessica's door first, holding out his hand to help her. Alison didn't miss the way her mother stroked the back of his hand with her thumb and the flirtatious smiles they were giving each other. Looked like her mother was back to fucking the help. Letting out a noise of disgust she opened her own door and climbed out. Ignoring her mothers calls to wait for her she stalked into the party, might as well get it over with. She figured she could show her face for an hour and then convince her mother they should leave. She didn't think that would be hard, knowing that she probably couldn't wait to drop Alison off and be alone with the sleazy driver.

"Alison!"

Hearing her name she turned to be faced with Mona Vanderwaal, the night was not improving. Mona was a fairly fresh face in terms of New York royalty. Her father had made a lot of money investing and when her mother had divorced him she took most of it. Moving them to New York and getting them on the scene. For some reason she had decided to make Alison her rival. Putting on her best false smile she tried to answer with the same enthusiasm.

"Mona! I should have known you'd be here. How are you?"

"Better than you, oh sweetie I bet you're just struggling through the days aren't you?" Mona's face had concern written all over it, her eyes however were filled with glee. "You know if you need someone to talk to I'm always here" She said putting her hand on Alison's arm and giving it a squeeze.

Yeah, always here to get gossip and take me down Alison thought.

"Thank you so much, but honestly I'm fine. It's been a year you know." Alison tried to be polite but Mona always made it so hard. "Oh I think I see the birthday boy. It was lovely to see you Mona."

She made her exit swiftly and headed over to Noel, only to be bumped into by a server.

"I'm sorry Miss"

Alison looked up at the sweaty middle aged man, "Look where you're going!" She snapped and carried on toward Noel. The quicker she could get through all the formalities the quicker she could leave.

It had been just over an hour since they'd arrived. She'd spoken to everyone she needed to, posed for all the pictures that would be on page six and now she was ready to leave. Seeking out her mother she found her in the bathroom.

"We've been here an hour can we leave?" Alison grumbled.

"You can leave if you want." Jessica replied, continuing to fix her make up without so much as a glance toward her daughter.

"I have to leave with you remember, I don't have a driver tonight."

"Oh, well then it looks like you're staying" Jessica said casually pouting into the mirror.

"Seriously? You want to stay?"

"This is why nobody likes you Alison. You're not fun, it's a party, enjoy yourself. God knows if there were an all you can eat buffet you'd be swinging from the chandeliers." Jessica laughed, amused by herself.

"Honestly I thought you'd be dying to get out of here mother. The driver isn't going to blow himself!"

She regretted it as soon as it left her mouth. Her mother turned on her.

"Listen here you little bitch, my life is not your concern. I don't know where you've got these ridiculous ideas from but you need to shut your mouth." Venom dripped from her mothers lips "I'm leaving, why don't you go see if they've cut the cake?"

Her mother sauntered out of the door leaving Alison stuck in place. A stall door opened and out stepped Mona, slow clapping with a dangerous look on her face.

"Bravo, what an excellent show" Mona held up her phone "The Internet is going to love it."

"Mona" Alison warned in a dangerous to

"No really it was fantastic. I'm not even going to sell it to the highest bidder because that, well that was just priceless." Cackling like a cartoon villain she too left Alison stood in the bathroom unable to move.

Her ride was gone and in the morning she was going to be facing a shit storm. Tears threatening her eyes she pulled out her phone.

"Hello?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call."

Alison stayed in the bathroom until her phone rang.

"Hey they won't let me in, you're going to have to meet me outside. Go out the back, I'll be there."

"Okay, I'll be out in a second."

She left the bathroom and headed toward the back of the building to the service entrance. Pushing open the door the cold night air hit her and she shivered.

"Hey are you ok?" Emily said rushing toward her, "here put this on" she took her jacket off and helped Alison into it.

"Thank you for this, I'm sorry I just…I couldn't think of anyone else."

"Well I'm glad you thought of me, what the hell happened tonight?"

The tears that had been threatening to fall since she'd got in the car that night suddenly came bursting through. She just couldn't hold them in anymore and the flood gates were opened.

"My mother and then Mona and…" Alison brought her hands up to her face sobbing. She felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her in. Her face buried in Emily's chest she continued to sob. It lasted a few minutes before she took a deep breath and pulled herself together. Drawing her face away from Emily's chest she went to take a step back, but the tall brunette didn't let go.

"I got into an argument with my mom and it was bad. I said something I shouldn't have, I mean she said something first but I should have let it go and now…" The reality of the situation hit Alison again. "Oh my God tomorrow it's going to be bad, so fucking bad."

"People argue with their parents all the time Ali. Yeah you might not be friends tomorrow but it'll pass." Emily spoke in a reassuring tone.

Despite the situation she couldn't help but enjoy the way Emily called her Ali, nobody had ever called her Ali. She wouldn't let them, but she loved the way it sounded coming from Emily's mouth.

"No you don't understand." Alison stared Emily in the face trying to get the gravity of the situation across. "Mona filmed it, she got it all. Tomorrow it will be released to the press and it's going to cause so many problems. My father has only just started speaking to me again after the Rollins thing. It's my fault and I can't do anything about it." She started to sob again.

"The hell we can't" Emily growled letting go of Alison.

Then she started marching furiously toward the building fists clenched at her sides.

"Emily what are you doing?" Alison ran to catch up to her.

"I'm going to beat the shit out of this Mona!"

Alison had never seen the brunette so angry.

"Stop!" Alison called "you'll make things worse! There's a party going on in there, you really think nobody is going to bat an eye at you marching in and punching one of the guests?!"

"I don't give a fuck" Emily continued her march.

Alison finally reached her and grabbed her arm, Emily spun round. Her face was hard and threatening. It shook Alison and she quickly let go of her taking a step back.

Emily's face suddenly softened, realising what she'd done "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you" she reached out for Alison "Ali I would never hurt you."

Alison moved back towards her "I know, you just scared me for a moment that's all. I'm not used to seeing you like that."

Emily heard a noise and she turned toward it instinctively. One of the servers had snuck out the back for a cigarette, Emily squinted at him. He was familiar somehow.

"That's the arsehole that nearly knocked me down earlier." Alison muttered.

Emily put an arm round Alison guiding her away from the building, "Come on let's go, I've got a cab waiting."

"A cab?"

"Yeah, I don't have a car and I couldn't exactly run to the lot to get yours. I didn't think you'd take too kindly to me saying 'yeah I know you're having an emergency and all but I just need to nip across the city first' or are you that against cabs?"

Alison smiled to herself, there was the Emily she knew.

"I have nothing against cabs, I just assumed you had a car. I'm sorry for dragging you out."

"No place I'd rather be" Emily replied, giving her a squeeze with the arm wrapped around her.

Alison knew that she meant it.

They climbed into the cab, Emily giving the driver Alison's address. Her arm back around Alison, it felt nice. It made her feel safe, secure. Then she remembered why she was sat in the back of a cab with the brunette's arm around her shoulders.

"Hey it's me, no she's fine but I need a favour"

Alison turned to see Emily on the phone.

"I'm going to text you some details and I need you to remove something from their phone. Can you do that? Is that a thing? Awesome, I'll see you when I get home."

"Who was that?"

"Caleb, I need you to give me this Mona's details. He's going to take care of this."

"Really?" Alison felt hope flutter up inside her.

"Yeah, you'd be scared if you knew the stuff this guy could do. Right type it in." Emily handed Alison her phone.

By the time they'd arrived back at Alison's Emily had received a text from Caleb assuring her that it was all taken care of. Alison was elated. Emily had paid the driver and they were stood at the bottom of Alison's steps.

"I'm sorry I ruined your movie night."

"How did you know I was having a movie night?" Emily questioned.

"I overheard you on the phone earlier."

"Ah, well don't worry about it. This is what friends are for." Emily smiled down warmly at her.

"You could still have one if you want? I mean with me, if you wanted. You could come in and we could order a pizza and do that? You probably want to get home though so it's fine, really don't worry about it." Alison could hear herself rambling but she couldn't stop. What was wrong with her?

"That sounds perfect." Emily grinned pulling out her phone, "One cheese pizza coming up."

They were upstairs in Alison's room, the only room that was actually finished. Sat up on the bed, the pizza box between them, Love Actually playing on the large flatscreen mounted on the wall. Alison reached for the last slice.

"You sure can eat huh?" Emily remarked playfully.

The stinging comments of her mother came flooding back, she put the slice back and fought back the tears. Emily saw the sudden change.

"Hey woah, no that's a good thing. It was a compliment! I'm impressed. I mean I wish I could eat that much and still look like you."

That made Alison look at her.

"I mean it Ali, have you even seen yourself? You're gorgeous and sexy and beautiful and so stunning and.." Emily stopped and blushed, "Well you know what I mean" she looked down awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck.

Alison felt a warmth spread though her. She could tell Emily genuinely believed those things. That she really meant them. She picked the slice back up.

"So Ali huh?"

"Yeah, sorry it just kind of came naturally." Emily shrugged, "Is it a problem?"

"No," Alison replied, "it feels natural."

Emily cleared her throat "I'm glad you called me tonight. I know you don't have many people, but I want you to know you always have me."

"Why?" Alison turned to face her "Why are you so nice to me?"

"Because I'm your friend." Emily said it like it was the most simple answer in the world.

Alison had felt herself getting sleepy about halfway into the film but she finally gave in and laid down and closed her eyes, listening to the dialogue and Emily's gentle breathing beside her. It had been a terrible night, but now somehow she was the most content she could ever remember being. That was almost her last thought before she drifted off, but then a pair of soft lips met her forehead.

"Sweet dreams Ali"

She was wrong before. This was the most content she'd ever been, then she let sleep take her.

So there we have it. You know the drill by now, give me your thoughts, give me your opinions. If you have cake I'll happily take that too : ) Much love to you all.