True Worth

Disclaimer: I own nothing, because if I did Pretty Little Liars would be a little different…

AN: True North avoided!

Emily sat with her friends in the cafeteria, catching up before school actually started. "Wait so what's his name again?"

Hanna sighed in frustration, "Caleb, and he's really hot, but he's kind of sketchy. He does something with phones or something, but he's really hot." She grinned.

"Yeah cause hotness totally overrides sketchiness, right Hanna?" Spencer mocked. Hanna glared at her.

"Last time I checked, you were fawning over Toby, pot calling the toaster black, right Spencer?" she fired back.

Spencer laughed immediately, "The correct term is 'Pot calling the kettle black' Hanna."

Hanna shrugged it off, "Well my toaster's black so..." she stuck her tongue out.

Aria rolled her eyes, "You see what I've been putting up with, now that you're in a relationship?" as if to prove her point both girls continue to argue, ignoring Aria's comment. "Plus I've got bigger problems…like trying to avoid Mr. Fitz, which thankfully he's finally got the message but yet he won't let me transfer to a different English class." She groaned.

"And who would've thought that random hook ups would ever come back to bite you in the ass?" Spencer smirked.

"Who's getting bitten in the ass, and by whom?" Hanna checks back into the conversation.

"Karma's biting Aria in the ass via Mr. Fitz." Emily chimed.

Hanna sucked her teeth, "Which totally blows because he's actually cute." She shrugged off.

"Anyway, how are things at home now that your dad's gone?" Aria redirected the attention to Emily.

Emily dropped her head to the table, "He's been gone all of twelve hours and she's already trying to convert me." she rolled her eyes. The girls look on with sympathy. She just can't understand how her dad can completely accept her but her mom is about two steps away from dousing her with Holy Water.

"Hi." Maya appears from over her shoulder, smiling softly and just like that Emily's mood brightens.

"Hey." She greets back enthusiastically as she gets up and plants a sound kiss onto her girlfriend's lips right there in front of a full cafeteria. Maya is shocked, but silently pleased.

"Am I still coming over later?" She questions softly, knowing the girl's mood isn't quite the best. Emily looked at her questioningly, "I mean, since your dad's gone." The girls smile at one another at Maya's sweetness.

"Yeah." Emily smiles incredulously. "I promise mom won't drag you out of the house kicking and screaming…she's going to be in the city for most of the day." They laugh quietly to themselves.

Finally Hanna can't take it anymore. "What's later?" she leers playfully.

Emily smiles, her fingers automatically searching out for Maya's. "Studying." She shrugged.

"Is that girlfriend code for romance?" She smirked, making them all laugh and Emily blush.

"No Hanna actually studying." Emily giggled. 'Well…mostly anyway.'

Maya smirked at her girlfriend's blush and seized the moment. "Oh but don't let little Miss Innocent fool you…this one here is BIG on romance." She winked at the girls.

"Is she now?" Spencer bit back a smirk.

'Oh really now? That's how she wants to play?' Emily smirked. "Oh you know, picnics by the lake, kissing in the rain…dancing naked in candlelight." Maya froze at the mental image, 'Touché Miss Fields, touché.' Meanwhile the girls' jaws dropped. "Guys! I'm totally kidding; we do dinner and a movie just like everyone else."

They laughed, "She's not totally kidding, Emily would just love to do those things." Maya smirked.

Emily pinched her sides looking at her in disbelief, "Ok you shut off." They turned to walk away, Emily threw another incredulous look over her shoulder, still ushering a laughing Maya out of the room.

Aria sighed after them, "God what I wouldn't do for their romance. I'd take a homophobic mother over an obsessed hook up any day of the week."

Hanna and Spencer laughed, "Oh Hun, we'd all kill for their romance." Hanna smirked fondly as Spencer nodded in agreement.

"At least you two have guys you're interested in and they're interested in you too! I. Have. Nothing." She groaned pathetically, "I might as well be gay at this point." She huffed, pouting dramatically. This sparks an idea for Hanna as she pulls her phone out under the table and begins texting.

Emily's room…

"Are you sure Pam's not like hiding in your closet, just waiting for me to corrupt you so that she can drag me out by my hair?" Maya smirked tossing her bag beside Emily's bed.

Emily kicks her shoes off, sitting on her bed to give her girlfriend an amused smirk. "I told you she's not here, her car isn't even in the driveway. Paranoid much?"

Maya scowled, fingering her hair, "Hey you're not the one who's going to get their hair pulled out if she comes in all unannounced."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Ok, ok how can I convince you that she's gone? Cause I'd really like to get some studying done."

"Well…" Maya trailed smirking devilishly at the sitting girl. Slowly, she stalked closer until their knees touched, there she bent at the waist and rested her hands on either side of her doe eyed girlfriend. "Scoot back." Her eyes flashed as Emily gulped and followed directions; Maya's smirk only broadened. When Emily was far enough, Maya began to crawl toward her until she was hovering above her lap.

"W-What are y-you doing?" Emily squeaked, wetting her lips as Maya's breath ghosted over them.

"Think of it as reassurance." She leered. "Lay back." Then commanded, Emily once again did as she was told. Peering down at the helpless girl Maya felt a jolt of arousal shoot straight down between her legs, she hummed low in her throat and then, ever so slowly, settled herself atop Emily's hips, her lips catching her girlfriend's in a slow kiss.

Emily didn't know what to do, on the one hand she could totally enjoy the pleasure her girlfriend seemed intent on giving her or she could stop things before they got to heavy and actually study…yea, she didn't have to give much thought.

Her hands gripped Maya's hips, moving upward and pulling her closer by the small of her back; Maya moaned, opening her mouth to Emily sneaky, wet tongue. 'You can be in control…for now.' She smirked in her head.

Using her left hand to keep her stable, Maya snaked her right up her girlfriend's loose top, her fingertips blazing a burning trail up and down the swimmer's stomach. Emily whimpered as the girl above her fingered the bottom trim of her bra, oh how badly she wanted Maya to touch her.

Hearing her girlfriend's pleas, Maya decided to take pity on her as well as herself and gently moved her hand around to Emily's back in search of the bra clasp. Emily arched into her, unknowingly pressing their chests together in the most delicious way; Maya quickly unsnapped the bra and broke the kiss to trail hot open mouthed kisses to the girl's jaw and neck.

When her hand resumed its position playing with the bra's trim, she didn't hover long. She inched her hand under the material and up over supple skin until she felt a hard peek nuzzle the palm of her hand. They let loose simultaneous moans of pleasure as they reconnected in a searing kiss.

"Oh…Maya." Emily whimpered breathlessly into the girl's mouth. She couldn't believe how good this felt, but she needed more…just more.

Maya caught on quickly to her lover's moans and lifted up, Emily following to not lose any contact, and quickly slipped her other hand beneath the shirt and palming the neglected breast. Emily moaned helplessly losing herself in the pleasure. "So good…so good, Baby." Maya moaned against bruised lips as they parted, ghosting her kisses down her lover's neck only to latch onto her pulse point, sucking gently.

Emily lost it as one of her hands tangled in her girl's hair the other shot up her shirt, pushing her bra up and cupping a full breast in her hand. Maya gasped in surprise and sucked harder, intent on marking Emily. She flicked Maya harden bud with her thumb, loving the noises it elicited from her and when she felt she played enough her hand moved south, curious as to what she would find there.

Maya for her part was too caught up in kissing Emily again that she didn't notice the girl's wandering hand until it was cupping her gently above her sodden panties. "Oh, oh god!" she groaned prying her lips away, "Emily." She hissed as she tried to control the very urgent need to rock into the tentative fingers pressing just above her entrance.

"You're so wet." Emily marveled, staring in amazement at the girl hovering above her. Maya bit her lip in restraint and nodded frantically; she didn't know whether to continue or stop things before they did something they weren't ready for…though she felt pretty damn ready right now. "I did that." A small slightly awed yet slightly cocky smile pulled at Emily's lips as she pulled her hand away, resting it on Maya's hips once again.

Maya dropped her head to Emily's shoulder, her breathing ragged as she tried to respond. "You…really…underestimate, just how much, you affect me." she sighed.

Emily grinned, nuzzling her nose into Maya's hair, dropping light kisses. "I'll work on it." Maya chuckled, still slightly breathless as she sat up, cupping Emily cheeks and stroking them affectionately. "What?" Emily blushed under the intense look Maya was giving her.

Maya just grinned knowingly, as if she had just figured out some big secret, and dropped a series of gentle, languid kisses onto the bruised, red lips. "We should study." She said gently after pulling away. Emily nodded, filing the moment away to ask Maya about it another time.

"…So are you going to button my pants or do I have to do it?" The moment disappeared just as quickly as Emily's face burned bright red. Maya just smirked.

Pam returned from an exhausting day of running errands in the city, thankfully the house was quite. 'Emily must be upstairs studying.' She thought pleased, to herself. She didn't know what was wrong with her daughter these days, hanging out with that girl.

And her husband, Wayne, how could her accept it! It was awful, and wrong, so very wrong. Did he not see how this girl was corrupting their daughter? How could he not know how the world would judge their family because of this?

It scared her to death, honestly it did. She was scared for her little girl, and she just…god she just didn't understand. Did she do something wrong, was that why Emily was doing this? Was there really nothing she could do about it? Was this normal to Emily? Natural to her? She didn't know.

Quietly as to not disturb her daughter's studying, she made her way upstairs and toward her room, but the sound of giggling stopped her dead in her tracks. She made her way closer to her daughter's room, the door was slightly ajar. She watched as Maya and Emily played footsie just like the dinner, fear coursed through her as she pushed the door open, "Emily!"

The girls stopped in surprise, staring at Pam like she'd lost her mind. "Mom…what's wrong?" Emily frowned taking in her mother's white complexion.

Pam's hands shook, "I won't, I can't live like this."

Emily's confusion grew, but Maya only shook her head knowingly. "What are you talking about? I thought you'd be out?" she grasped.

"So that gives you the right…" Pam was disgusted, but with whom, she didn't know. "God, I can't even imagine what I would've walked in on if I hadn't finished early."

"Pam…I promise we were just studying." 'For the most part.' Maya said in earnest.

Pam clenched her eyes shut, "It's Mrs. Fields…to you." She glared at the girl.

Maya wanted to scoff, but she didn't. "I should go." She stood from the bed.

"I'm so sorry Maya." Emily pleaded to the girl, rising with her.

Maya rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "You didn't do anything wrong." She looked at Pam, "We didn't do anything wrong." She stressed, gathering her things and leaving the room.

Emily sat there on the bed, looking at her mother as if she were a stranger, "For the first time in my life…I'm ashamed to be your daughter." She spat taking off after Maya, not seeing how her mother broke down in tears.

"Emily dear, you have to understand that this is hard on your mother, it's not something you expect out of your children." Raina, Maya's mother, spoke softly taking the girl's clenched hand into her hands.

"My lovely wife's right you know?" Henry grinned as he sat next to his daughter, smiling at his wife across from him. "Raina wasn't exactly thrilled either, it's something that takes some getting used to. Would we have kicked you out of our daughter's room?" he grinned at Emily, "No, but we're just a couple of good old hippies; we know that love is love and in time your mother will come to see it too."

Emily gave a small smile grasping Maya's hand, she looked at the girl that she was…in love with. 'Wow, so it's come to this huh?' Emily grinned as that same love she felt reflected in Maya's eyes as they peered into hers. She loved Maya, and she'd be damned if her mother was going to ruin that.

Meanwhile…

Pam sat in her daughter's room after she left the house, no doubt to take the girl home. Sitting on the bed, she caught sight of an old photograph on Emily's bedside table. Picking it up she grinned, Emily looked so innocent. She placed it back next to the send photo on the table, this one being of Emily and Maya.

Pam picked this one up too, 'She looks…happy?' she sighed and put it back, her feet hitting a bag on the floor, she picked it up and placed it on the bed; knowing it was Maya's. She goes through it.

The first thing she pulls out is a notebook with 'Maya' written onto the cover, she opens to the first page and Pam nearly cries at what she sees. There in the margin is a small heart with 'E+M' written in script in the middle. It's just a doodle, and there are many more she finds throughout the notebook, but with each one she discovers it heavies the dreading feeling low in her gut.

"Hanna stopped by while you were gone…she asked where you were and I couldn't give her an answer." Pam stood awkwardly in front of Emily's bed as the girl laid there ignoring her presence. "I think she could tell that we had fought, I guess she was just being polite. You know before she left, she said, she said 'There's a lot of hate in this world and those who've found love shouldn't be punished for who they've found it with, but should be celebrated because they found it.' I didn't know Hanna could be so poetic."

Emily was thrown, 'Hanna said that?' she looked at her mom, waiting. Pam continued, "I talked with your father after she left and, and I'm sorry that I've made you ashamed to be my daughter…I just, I can't accept this." Emily looked away as tears filled her eyes. "But I'm going to try." Pam left before her daughter could react; Emily didn't know what to think.

"Emily." Spencer noticed her defeated posture as the girl approached her and Hanna. "Hey." She cooed, concerned.

"She still won't let Maya in the house." Emily sighed. "I thought that after she said she'd try that things would get better, not worse. She's not even allowed in the house anymore."

Spencer shared a look with Hanna. "Can't you just go to her house? Aren't her parents like totally in love with you?" Hanna tried.

Emily shook her head with a scoff, "Maya went to Philly with her mom, some girls' night or something, and they won't be back until tomorrow. She won't let me drive, and she drives me everywhere…says we need to bond. She even took my phone away!" Emily paused, trying to even her breathing. "I just…I just want to see Maya." Emily frowned.

Later at the Hasting's house…

"Please, please tell me you have alcohol of some kind?" Emily whined as she entered through the kitchen door. Her friends shared a small conspiring look, sending Emily into suspicious mode. "What?"

Spencer hopped up from the bar seat, "We have a present for you!" She grinned manically, making the three laugh.

"What are you talking about?" She questioned, still smiling, already in a better mood than she was ten seconds ago.

"Come on and I'll show you." Spencer took her hand ready to lead her upstairs.

"Wait…I think this present she should find on her own." Aria said pointedly, making Spencer drop Emily's hand and nudge her toward the stairs.

"Wait!" Hanna shouted and practically skipped to Emily, taking her backpack and fluffing her hair. "There…now go and find your gift. I have a feeling you'll love it," she winked.

Emily shook her head at her friends and their suddenly weird, yet not unfamiliar, behavior and carried on up the stairs and down the hallway till she reached the only guest room with a soft glowing light filtering out from beneath the door.

Her heart raced as she whipped her palms nervously on her jeans and then reached for the doorknob, turning it slowly. As the door opened she couldn't stop the gasp from leaving her throat, because there amongst the dozens of lit candles was Maya. 'Oh my god.' Emily could barely process what was happening.

Maya approached her, smiling that smile that made the butterflies in her stomach swarm, and gently reached around her and closed the door; the room buzzing with…something. "I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow?" she asked in happy shock.

"I was…but our friends seem to think that my presence was needed here…and they were right. How come you didn't tell me how your mom was acting at school today?" Maya asked taking Emily's hands into her own.

"I didn't want to ruin your time with your mom just because my mom is being…difficult." Emily frowned.

Maya rolled her eyes chiding Emily with a gentle smile, "Believe me when I say that my mom gets it…she understands that being with you is where I need to be right now…and any other time in the future." Her eyes sear into Emily's, burning straight through her.

Emily swallows thickly, letting the silence stretch for a few moments. "So…you're here." She whispered.

Maya smiled wider. "Yes, I am." She stepped closer encircling Emily's waist with her arms and pulling her closer, Emily's arms draping around her shoulders. "Dance with me?"

Emily smiled brightly, "Of course."

Downstairs…

The three stared up at the ceiling above them, smiling at the giggling that could be heard from above as they curled up around the fire. "I am so jealous of their love life…like seriously." Hanna sighed dreamingly.

Aria scoffed, "Please, you're jealous? Need I remind you that I'm the only one without a love life or even a potential love life?"

Spencer smirked over her cup, "You could always give Mr. Fitz another go." Aria glared and threw a pillow at her, luckily Spencer dodged it. "Kidding, kidding!" she laughed.

"It's not funny." Aria pouted.

"Well…" Hanna started with a seemingly innocent smile. "I can always set you up on a date, if you want?"

Spencer and Aria focused on the blonde, "I don't know Hanna…I'm not exactly in the mood to deal with immature boys."

Hanna smirked inwardly, "I said nothing about immature boys Aria, just trust me. I have this friend and they're really great and totally into art and stuff like you…I think you two would really have some chemistry."

Aria thought about, "Not an immature boy, right?" she questioned.

"Immature boy would never be associated with them." She smirked for real this time.

Aria nodded, "Alright, it's not like I have anything else to do."

"Great! I'll set it up!" Hanna started typing away on her phone.