A/N: Ahhh I'm so happy with the response I got to this :D I'm glad you guys are liking it already, and I'm glad you guys like Alison too. :) By the waaay, I'd just like to give a shoutout out to my Twitter friend Angela, Twitter user DirtyCzarine_xo , who kept cheering me on when I started this story yesterday haha ^.^

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PLL!

PLEASE enjoy, favorite, follow and REVIEW!

Emily tapped her fist on the door of the house she was standing in front of. Moments later, her mother opened it. "Oh, Emily. Did you need help moving in after all?"

"No, mom. I've been unpacking for the last couple of hours, but I found some things in one of my boxes that I had been meaning to get back to you," Emily replied, holding up the papers she was holding. They were just some letters and birthday cards and a couple of photos, but she didn't have any need of them.

"Oh, alright." Her mom took the stack of stuff. "Do you need help with anything else?"

"No, mom, I'm fine," Emily insisted. "I need to be unpacking. I'll call you later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Emily replied with a nod. She turned and headed down the steps and back toward her card. She loved her mom, she really did, but ever since the older woman found out that Emily was gay, and all the shit had gone down between them, they just hadn't ever been as close as they once were.

As she sat back in the driver seat of her car, her thoughts drifted back to about twenty minutes ago, when she'd ran into that blonde girl outside the elevator of her apartment building. There'd been something interesting about that girl. Besides the fact that she was absolutely stunning anyway. That golden hair, and those brilliant blue eyes. She was like someone out of a movie.

Blinking, and realizing that she was still parked outside her mom's house, she put her foot on the gas and started driving out of the neighborhood and toward her apartment building. She still had a lot of unpacking to do.

Twenty minutes later, she found herself in the elevator going upstairs to her floor. She was careful to make sure that no one was going into the elevator as she stepped out, because she'd already made the mistake of not watching where she was going earlier, even though the blonde girl had insisted that it was her fault.

She made her way to her door, C13, and took out the old key that unlocked it. She slipped it into the lock and tried to turn it, but it got stuck. Of course, she thought bitterly. She absolutely hated when keys got stuck. As she continuously tried to turn it, she heard a door open behind her.

"Breaking into an empty apartment?" came a voice that she recognized. Emily turned her head and spotted the blonde girl that ran into her earlier.

"No, it's my apartment, but the key is stuck," she answered simply.

"So you must be the one who parked her car in my parking spot," the blonde commented, stepping toward her and reaching for the key that was stuck in the keyhole.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize that—" Emily started.

"No, it's nothing," the blonde insisted, jiggling the key for a second, before expertly turning it with ease. "The keys do that a lot here. You get used to it."

"Alright," Emily answered. "Thanks."

"No problem," the blonde girl answered. "So, where did you move here from? Must've been a pretty lame place if you upgraded to a tiny place like this."

"Philly," Emily answered. "I was away for college. Don't really have family or friends anywhere else, or a job."

"Sounds lonely," the blonde commented. "What's your name, Philly?"

"Emily," Emily answered, looking the blonde up and down. She really was absolutely gorgeous. She was the perfect shape and size, everywhere, and her hair looked freaking soft. "And yours?"

"Alison," the blonde—Alison—answered.

"Pretty name," Emily commented, remembering that Aria had mentioned an Alison that loved attention. "Well, I don't want to keep you. You look like you're heading out to go somewhere."

AAA

Alison blinked and looked down at herself. She was kind of dressed up, even though she was just going to the mall with her friends. "Oh, yeah I was just heading to the mall."

"Well, thanks for the help with the key," Emily said, giving her a small smile. She opened the door, and Alison caught a glimpse of all of the boxes piled up in there.

"Did you just move here today? That's a lot of unopened boxes," Alison commented. For some reason, she'd rather be talking to this brunette than going to hang out with her best friends.

"Yeah," Emily answered.

"Do you need help unpacking?" Alison wondered, hoping and hoping that Emily would say yes.

"I'd really rather not keep you," Emily replied politely, but Alison could tell that she would actually really appreciate the help.

"Trust me, my friends won't miss me," Alison admitted. "I've been zoning out all day, and I can't keep track of what they say."

"Or where you're going," Emily teased, referring to the elevator incident earlier. Alison felt her cheeks heat up, which was really weird, but she just laughed lightly.

"Exactly. So, can I come in?" she asked.

Emily seemed to hesitate for a moment, but she finally agreed, "Sure. Come on in."

They stepped into her apartment, and Alison looked around the empty place. The kitchen and living area was pretty big for a single person. She guessed that the bedroom was a relatively good size too, even though she couldn't see it.

"Do you know Aria?" Emily asked. "I met her earlier, and she mentioned an Alison."

Ali looked back at the brunette. "Yep, that's me. Why'd she mention me?"

"She was just talking about high school. I guess I went to high school here at the same time as you guys, but I never knew you all," Emily replied.

"Really? I feel like I would've noticed you. I knew almost everyone there by name," Alison admitted.

"Why would you have noticed me?"

Alison felt her cheeks redden. "I—uh, never mind. But yeah, I knew like everyone, so I don't know how I didn't know you."

"I never really wanted to be noticed in high school. If you would've known me, it would've been as that gay girl on the swim team," Emily admitted, frowning.

So she's gay, Alison thought, gears in her mind turning and trying to make peace between all of her conflicting feelings. She hated that they were there, bugging her about how she felt about different things. Why did things have to be so complicated? It was times like this that she wished she was back in high school. Simple life, getting everything she could ever want and being able to scare people away with a simple look. Sometimes she wished that she could stop trying to turn herself into a better person. "Yeah, weird, I honestly just don't remember you. I feel like I should feel bad," Alison admitted with a light laugh.

"Don't," Emily insisted.

"Why didn't you want to be noticed?" Alison wondered. She was still just trying to recall every stray face in the hallway that she saw in high school. One glimpse of this girl. Nothing. She couldn't think of anything.

Emily just shrugged. "Can you get one of the boxes labeled clothes? I'll get the other. I should probably at least unpack them today, considering I'm going to need to wear some tomorrow," she joked with a light laugh.

Alison just nodded and picked up the box. It wasn't like her to be so quiet. She carried one of the boxes into the bedroom, followed by the brunette and the other box. They set them on top of the bed, which was currently just a queen sized mattress on a bed frame. Across from it was a dresser that matched the frame. They were both dark brown, kind of like the color of Emily's flowing hair. "Big apartment for one person."

"That's what Aria said," Emily answered simply.

"Mine's pretty small," Alison continued. "It's a smaller rent. The perks to living alone."

"I would've chosen a smaller one," Emily agreed, "but this was all that was available."

"Yeah, it's been available for rent for a couple of months. I was wondering when someone would finally come get it. It got weird not having a neighbor across from me," Alison explained with a shrug.

"Well, now you've got me," Emily said with a smile. Alison returned it with a smile of her. She wouldn't have not been able to. That girl just had a beautiful smile. They began to open the two boxes.

Of course, the stuff at the top of the box just had to be Emily's underwear. And honestly, it was more like lingerie. Alison gulped and looked away when she saw it. Emily gave her a weird look, and the noticed the stuff in the box.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," the brunette exclaimed, grabbing the box and pulling it across the bed. Her cheeks were bright red, and Ali couldn't help but smirk. Smirking made her feel a little more like her old self, too, and that felt good.

"Don't worry about it," she insisted. "Everyone knows that the shy girls are always secretly the sexy ones."

That got an even bigger blush from the darker skinned girl. Alison bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. She felt a little bad for embarrassing Emily, but she liked seeing that blush so much that she couldn't feel too bad. Before she could apologize, or say anything at all, her phone rang.

"Just a sec," Ali muttered, still smirking. She grabbed her phone and slid across the screen to answer the call, not even bothering to check who it was. "Yeah?"

"Are you coming or not?" came Hanna's persistent voice.

"No, I'm doing something else," Alison replied.

"Really? We've been waiting here for like half an hour for you to show yourself," Hanna grumbled.

"Sorry, I forgot to text you I guess," Ali apologized, not really sorry. She'd much rather be here with Emily than at the mall with them. Maybe that was a little heartless, but others would disagree. She was really intrigued with Emily, and there was just something about her that pulled her in. Ali wanted to know more.

"What are you doing now, then?" Aria asked, letting Alison know that she was on speaker.

"I'm helping our new neighbor Emily unpack," Alison answered truthfully, and she could feel Emily glance at her.

"Really? You're actually helping someone? What is she giving you in return?" Spencer asked.

"Oh shut up, I'm not a horrible person, Spencer," Alison snapped. "I gotta go. I'll call you guys later."

EEE

"Are they mad that you ditched them?" Emily wondered aloud, once Alison had hung up.

"No, they understand," Alison replied, but Emily wasn't really convinced.

"Alright. I'm sorry about this stuff, by the way," Emily muttered, grabbing a handful of her undergarments and bringing them over to her dresser. She opened one of the smaller drawers and dropped them in, before going and getting more to repeat the process.

"Don't worry about it," Ali insisted. "We all have them."

Emily let out a laugh and nodded. "Have you always lived in Rosewood?"

Ali seemed to hesitate for a second, before she answered. "Yeah. I always dreamt of getting out of this place, but it just didn't happen. But at least I get to be close to my friends if I'm here."

"I dreamt of getting out and making it big, but after college I was clueless, so I just came back here," Emily agreed. "Maybe I can become the new swim coach at Rosewood High or something."

Alison smiled, and Emily felt her heart flutter. It was probably bad that she was reacting to something like a smile that way, but she couldn't help the way she was feeling. Alison was gorgeous, and she was funny and sweet. Emily really hoped that she wasn't mistaking friendliness for something more. Whatever it was, though, she wasn't going to make the first move unless she knew that Alison was at least gay.

Alison stayed and helped Emily unpack her clothes, some of her kitchen stuff and then some. Emily was actually really, really grateful for all of her help. "Thanks so much. Seriously, this would've taken so much longer if there'd only been one person doing it," Emily said, as she stood across from Alison in front of her door.

"Anytime," Alison replied with a smile. They stood there silently for a moment, just like they had at the elevator that morning. Emily had no idea what to say, but Alison spoke up first. "Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me."

"Yep, thanks again," Emily said.

Alison smiled sweetly. "Don't worry about it. See you later, Emily."

"Bye." Ali walked out of the apartment and across the hall to her own apartment. Emily closed her own door and sighed. This was not good. She already really liked this girl, but she had no idea what to think or do.

Sighing again, she turned and looked at her half unpacked apartment. "Ugh. I'll do the rest of it tomorrow."

She trudged into her bedroom and fell onto her newly made bed, falling asleep almost immediately after her head hit the pillow.

I know that in the show, Emily and her mom got close again or whatever, but I've never really liked her mom lol and I have to have a reason to not really write her...

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Haha let me know in a review pleeeeeeease :) Or, if that's not your thing, you're welcome to PM me :) Also, please follow me on Twitter at BrittzandTana :D Tweet me that you read this, and I'll follow you back :) I also have a Tumblr, but I don't really use it... like, at all... :P

Lol so it turns out that staying up for 22 hours on 3 hours of sleep causes me to sleep for nearly 12 hours the next night. Lol I blame this story XD I hope you like reading it as much as I love writing it. Haha I updated my two WIP Glee fanfics before this, but I was honestly just sitting there like "CAN I WRITE MY EMISON NOW PLS" haha.. :P

Have a great night/day my lovesss (: Please review :) And please don't forget to tell me if you like how I write Alison ^.^