It was about an hour later when I woke up. Emily is still right next to me laughing at something Spencer or Aria just said. She looks down when she feels me start to stretch.

Emily: grinning. "Hey there sleepy head. How was your nap?"

I smile back at her before answering.

Alison: "It was great.. I sleep better when you're next to me."

Emily smiles and gives me kiss,

Alison: I start getting up to stretch. "I'm starving! Did you guys already eat?"

Spencer and Aria nod but Emily gets up and follows me to the kitchen.

Emily: "I wanted to wait for you to eat."

Alison: "Thanks Killer... But you really didn't have to do that. I'm sure you're hungry."

Emily: "Yeah but I wanted to. Oh yeah, Hanna is on her way. She should be here any minute now."

Alison: sighing and giving a weak smile. "That's great!"

Emily: "What's wrong?"

Alison: "No, it's nothing... It's just... I want to spend some time with my friends ya know? Without having to deal with -A. I want to try to start as much of a normal life as I can again."

Emily's giving me a sad look as I say this. She wraps her arms around me and we just stand there in the hug, forgetting that the kitchen is right out of the living room, where Spencer and Aria have witnessed all of this.

Emily: "It's all gonna be over soon... We're gonna do all we can to take this monster down so we all can have normal lives again."

After Emily says this, I hear the door open and then close and see Hanna come into the living room with a wide grin in her face. I guess her date went well. I smile at her and hug her.

Alison: "Hey Han!"

Hanna: pulling away from the hug. "Hey Ali! Hi everyone!"

She flops on the couch and I grab my pizza and Em grabs hers. I guess it's time to talk about -A. What fun. As soon as Em and I finish, we head to Spencer's room to discuss our plan. After about an hour or two we have a plan set. The plan isn't half-bad, I actually like it. It's gonna take some time to actually figure the when and where of our plan, but at least we have one. We're all so exhausted now and we all fall asleep on each other. Aria on Spencer, and I'm in the middle of Emily and Hanna.

I wake up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain in my head and it doesn't help that we're on the floor. I groan in pain and grab my head, not realizing Emily's head is on my shoulder. Her head hits the floor and she sits up quickly.

Emily: "Owe!" She sounded aggravated.

Alison: "I'm sorry babe..." I say weakly and hold a hand over my eyes, leaning my head back. I feel a hand rub my stomach gently and know it's Emily.

Emily: "Are you okay?"

Alison: I'm not even gonna try to lie. "No.. My head hurts like hell and I can't sleep! And this stupid floor isn't helping anything!"

I feel Emily wrap both arms around me bringing me closer. I scoot across the floor a little and cuddle into her, curling against her body and laying my head in her chest.

Emily: "I'm sorry baby... I hate seeing you like this. Do you want some more Advil or an ice pack?"

I nod my head and start to get up, but Emily stops me.

Emily: "Whoa. You're not going anywhere. I'm gonna get the stuff. You just get into Spencer's bed and lay down."

I nod my head and walk over the bed, stumbling over the others. It feels so good when my head hits the cool pillow. Five minutes later Emily comes behind me and kneels on the bed, handing me the Advil and a glass of water. I take it and lay back down. She puts the ice pack on my head after placing a kiss on my forehead.

Alison: "Thank you."

Emily: "You don't have to thank me for taking care of you.. It's my job remember?"

Alison: "How could I forget that?"

Even in the dark I could see the smile on her face as she leaned down to kiss me. I wrapped my arms slowly around her neck, pulling her down to me. She pulled away a few minutes later.

Emily: "We should really get some sleep. Especially you, you need rest." She leaned down and gave me a quick kiss before moving to get off of the bed.

Alison: I grabbed her hand before she left. "No.. Don't go. Stay here and lay with me."

Emily: "Are you sure you won't be more comfortable having the bed to your self?"

Alison: I nodded. "I'm sure.. I sleep better when you're with me."

She crawled under the blanket and I curled up next to her. I lifted my head and kissed her good night.

Emily: "I love you"

Alison: "I love you too Killer. Night."

Emily: "Night."

I wake up the next morning to find that Emily isn't next to me and the others aren't on the floor. I hop off the bed and go down the stairs to find Aria, Hanna, and Spencer sitting around the island in the kitchen with their coffee, but no sign of Emily anywhere.

Spencer: "Morning." Smiling. "How's your head?"

Alison: "Better."I furrow my eyebrows and enter the kitchen. "Where's Emily?"

As soon as I ask this their faces fall to sad expressions.

Aria: "She left early this morning."

This confused me.

Alison: "What? Why? Is she okay?" I ask panicked.

Spencer: "Not exactly..."

Alison: I'm now frustrated. "What the hell is 'not exactly' supposed to mean Spencer?! Can someone please give me a straight answer?!"

Hanna: "Ali... Emily's Dad was killed."

And just like that, my heart felt like it fell straight to the floor. I didn't even know her dad was deployed again.