Hi! I know the updates are being posted less frequently, but I've had a bit of trouble writing recently. I won't be abruptly ending the story or anything like that, so fear not. It might just take a little longer until I get my mojo back. Seeing the reviews always gives me a little push to continue on, so thank you for those.
I know I previously claimed this chapter would be a doozy, but I delayed it for some sweet Emison time, which will be desperately needed.
Enjoy!
Oh and this might have borderline M rated material. I don't personally think so, but I have to at least throw a flag up for more than suggestive material. The actual M rated material is a few chapters from now.
When Alison and Emily returned to the table greeted by Spencer smirking, Aria smiling and Hanna rolling her eyes, Spencer ventured, "So what were you guys doing back there?"
"Talking," both Alison and Emily chirped in unison.
"At least you two have your stories straight," Hanna commented faintly as she bit down on the straw sticking out of her water glass.
Before either of the two playfully deceitful women could get comfortable in their seats, Emily's phone began ringing in her pocket. When she wiggled it out, she swore when she recognized the name on the caller id, "Shit. I have to take this." She rose from the table and revealed the identity of the caller to Hanna, "It's Jeremy."
As Emily stepped a few yards away pressing the phone to her right ear, Hanna cursed under her breath and then prompted, "We should talk about boyfriends or something."
"Why are you calling me?" Emily's voice could easily be heard, "I don't want to hear any shit from you today."
Alison studied Hanna's alarmed reaction to their ability to overhear her friend's conversation. "We can hear you, Em," Hanna yelled as a warning. Alison's attention bounced between Emily and her blonde friend. While Emily appeared to be distracted by the voice on the other end of the phone, Hanna seemed determined to grant the brunette the privacy she deemed to be crucial.
"Negligent what?" Emily gasped indignantly as she tucked her left arm across her body and squeezed her own shoulder.
"Emily! Walk away!" Hanna screamed. Alison's eyes bulged at the aggressive insistence. Surely Hanna knew her behavior fanned the flames of curiosity rather than suffocated them.
Finally heeding her friend's instructions, the flustered brunette crossed the street to continue her call. "Is she okay?" Alison squinted her eyes with mounting concern. Emily didn't seem the type to get upset very easily and her body language indicated that she was both furious and terrified.
"Umm yeah," Hanna replied unconvincingly, "It sounds like family-ish problems."
"Family-ish?" the other blonde tilted her head.
Rolling her eyes, Hanna briefly elaborated, "Like kinda sorta family problems." Alison caught her glancing across the street as her face contorted with discomfort. "I'm sure she's fine. They're a dramatic bunch."
Since she wasn't going to get any information regarding the distressing phone call from Hanna, Alison asked a question that had been weighing on her mind, "How close were Emily and Duncan?"
Surprised by the question, Hanna said, "Uhh, is this going to be awkward?"
"She asked," Spencer noted swirling pasta around her fork.
"Okie dokie then." Hanna set down her water glass and said, "Yeah, they were really close. Emily had a lot of friends, a couple of girlfriends and other 'friends' in college," she made sure to encapsulate friends with air quotes, "but they were inseparable after they met. I mean, I could separate them." She boasted, "But ya know, I'm special and she has a thing for blondes."
Aria asked tapping her fork into her salad, "Did you and Emily ever—"
"Eww no," the blonde wagged her head, "She's not my type."
Convinced this would be interesting, Alison asked, "How so?"
Hanna lifted a closed hand and raised a finger to count as she listed, "Bossy, obnoxious, overly sarcastic, cocky, stubborn as hell, prettier than me… I could go on."
"Sounds like a catch," Spencer smirked at Alison sliding a bite of chicken between her teeth.
"Some seem to think so," Hanna also cast a leisurely, yet meaningful look Alison's way. She was almost immediately distracted by an infuriated woman flinging her phone onto the sidewalk, cracking it into pieces. As the three other women followed her gaze, she added, "And she has a thing for throwing phones." Publicly expressing her displeasure in such a physical way was a trait Alison would never have attributed to Emily.
"Does that happen often?" Aria asked skeptically as lettuce bound for her mouth suddenly changed course and dropped to her plate.
"Nah," Hanna brushed it off, "Only when she gets really pissed during a phone call. Watch," she nodded at the woman now squatting on the ground, "She'll collect all the pieces, keep the important ones and then throw the rest away. Then she'll come over here and ask to borrow my phone so she can go pick out a new one."
"She's not going to call Jeremy back?" Spencer asked including the name of the caller.
The blonde chuckled at the idea, "No. He knows what happened."
As soon as Emily was within earshot, she asked Hanna as she shoved her hand toward the blonde, "Can I use your phone? My old one broke."
"Broke?" Alison's brow wrinkled as she asked the woman standing next to her.
"After I threw it," Emily clarified with a shrug accepting the phone Hanna handed to her.
"What are you going to tell the people at the store when you pick up a new one?" Ali asked as Emily dialed a number she'd obviously called multiple times.
Putting the phone to her ear, she said, "That I threw it on the ground because I got pissed."
As Emily walked away, Hanna said, "She's nothing if not honest."
"She's definitely one of a kind," Spencer agreed with her hands carefully slicing the chicken breast on her plate.
Jokingly, Alison muttered, "I might be rethinking this now." Although lighthearted, Alison reluctantly admitted to herself that Emily's multiple layers might not reveal the most enticing experiences and qualities. This didn't deter her, but simply heightened her awareness of the possibility that the beginning of this relationship, or whatever it was, might involve a more intense and darker exploration of each others' identity.
"Really?" the other blonde perked up at the blonde's levity, "You're smart. I might kinda like you in this one brief moment. Kinda." Hanna had been waiting for either Emily or Alison to embrace the existence of major, possibly paralyzing obstacles. Alison's acknowledgement of that wrapped in a joking pretense was enough to satisfy her.
"Hey guys," Emily returned and hastily apologized, "I'm sorry, but I've got to run. I need a new phone and then I have a client. I'll see you on Saturday for that party?" She said to both Aria and Spencer as Alison stared up at the woman hovering over her.
"Em," Hanna stared intently at her friend and said quietly, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Right? The party?" Emily ignored her friend. Hanna's vague concern about the phone call and now Saturday caused Alison to teeter on a line of asking for an explanation and allowing Emily to keep her secrets.
"Yeah," Spencer confirmed. "It's at my house. I'll text you the address. I guess you'll see it when you get a new phone."
"Great, thanks." The brunette bent down and smiled broadly at Alison as if they'd just walked out of the alley. Without hesitation or regard for who was watching, she lowered her parted lips onto Alison's. She dragged her lips across the blonde's for too long to be considered a simple goodbye kiss. After about ten seconds, she came up for air and whispered, "I'll see you soon."
Alison's mouth hung open as Emily half skipped, half strolled to her car. "Wow," Hanna said tapping on the side of her glass, "I was not expecting that."
"That makes two of us," Ali agreed unconsciously tracing two fingers along her lips. While she abhorred the idea of hiding their relationship, she never imagined Emily wanting to immediately flaunt it out in the open.
"I think that makes four of us," Aria spoke for herself and the other brunette.
"I didn't know you guys were to the point of rather obvious public displays of affection," Spencer commented across the table to her friend who finally dropped her fingers from her mouth.
"Neither did I," Alison agreed.
"Well," Hanna snatched up her water again to gnaw on the straw, "You'll pretty much never be in doubt about how she feels or at least what she wants."
Alison cast a questioning glance at Emily's friend, "Those are two separate things?"
As three pairs of eyes locked onto her face expecting an answer, Hanna declined with a smirk, "Oh, no way. I'm not gonna be the guy in the middle feeding information."
"Well, she certainly doesn't care what other people think," Spencer made her own assumption about the tall brunette who had quickly captivated her particularly guarded friend in only a few weeks.
"Yup," Hanna's eyes drifted upward as she slurped the last of the water from her glass.
"Hanna…" Alison pried.
"Not going to happen."
Just as curious as Emily's new 'special friend', Spencer coaxed with a friendly grin, "C'mon. Give us something she wouldn't kill you for saying."
"Anything," Alison requested, "How about what she was like in high school?" While she considered the topic harmless, Alison figured it wasn't something Emily would delve into any time in the near future. She'd only received a brief glimpse when the brunette told her the story of their encounter in the bathroom.
With a sigh, Hanna offered, "She was really quiet and seriously one of the sweetest people I've ever met—sugary sweet."
"I honestly cannot see that," Aria said covering her mouth as she chewed on a bite of her salad. "Is that bad?"
"Nah," Hanna replied. "I think she mostly likes who she has turned into. It's good to see her say what's on her mind. In high school, you could never tell with her."
"Did she date anyone?" Alison asked quickly as if it was a normal question.
"That's cheating," Spencer responded pointing her fork at her inquisitive friend.
Enjoying being the center of attention and the girl with all the answers, Hanna answered, "No one significant until senior year. That's mainly because she—" the woman stopped herself realizing she'd just wandered into unmentionable territory.
"She what?" Alison asked folding her hands together in interest.
"I can't," Hanna shook her head. "Ask me something else."
"C'mon, Hanna," Spencer backed up her curious blonde friend. Alison wasn't the only one eager for details about Emily. Although she hadn't yet voiced her opinion, she wasn't confident in Alison's decision to pursue anything romantic so soon after leaving Duncan.
"She will literally murder me if I tell."
Even more intrigued, Alison said, "So it's worth hearing?"
"I can't!" Hanna replied almost begging the women to change the subject.
"You almost told us," Spencer reminded.
Joining her two friends, Aria added, "We won't tell."
Tilting her head back and accepting the fatal consequences she'd surely suffer at the hands of Emily, Hanna revealed, "She had the biggest, most ridiculous crush on this girl junior and senior year. Like huge." She shook off a look of distaste and clarified, "Fortunately, it went away in college."
"On who?" Spencer queried wondering why Emily's crush would be worth hiding.
"I've been sworn to secrecy," Hanna stalled. "I seriously can't."
"Who?" Alison prodded.
"You!" Hanna blurted nodding her head in Alison's direction.
Her mouth dropping open, the blonde replied, "You're joking, right?"
Laughing, Spencer said, "Oh, this is priceless."
When Hanna didn't change her answer, Alison said, "You're serious."
Hanna expounded with a groan and dragging her pointer finger mockingly on the table top, "She doodled your name on her class notes and constantly told me how pretty you looked. I always got pissed because, hello, you made fun of me for years."
Sweetly, Aria said looking at the shocked, yet flattered Alison, "She doodled your name? That's so cute, Ali."
"Did I mention she will kill me if she knows I told you?" Hanna emphasized flatly.
"We won't tell," Spencer assured.
"We're good at keeping secrets," Aria agreed.
Glancing at a silent Alison, Hanna chuckled, "Why so quiet? Don't worry. She didn't stalk you or go through your trash or anything."
"I'm just surprised," Alison admitted. "We never even met." She chose to exclude the incident in the bathroom seeing as they never saw one another's faces.
"You probably just acknowledged her existence one day. She didn't need a lot of encouragement." Commenting on the present circumstances, she said, "This is basically a high school dream come true for her."
"It's so adorable," Aria said with a whimsical smile.
"Aria, the romantic," Spencer mocked her friend.
"Why didn't she just talk to me?" Alison queried tucking her hands into her lap.
Spencer and Aria raised an eyebrow at the absurd suggestion as Hanna scoffed, "Are you kidding? You would have broken her heart into a million pieces by telling her to run back to her loser friends."
Dismissing the joke, Alison asked, "Do you think I'm going to hurt her now?" With this new information, Hanna's wariness didn't seem unfounded.
"I dunno." Hanna challenged, "Are you?"
"So!" Spencer interrupted what wouldn't be an enjoyable tangent, "Who did she actually date in high school?"
Sparing Alison, Hanna said, "A freshman girl in college named Samara." She added, "She actually had a date with her the night you two met," she pointed at Alison.
"We met her," Spencer acknowledged.
Emily's friend expounded, "Emily dated her most of senior year in high school and until her sophomore year of college. I think. It was almost two years."
"You said she had a crush on me senior year," Alison replied defensively twiddling her fingers.
"Jealous?" Hanna laughed.
"Emily obviously knew the futility of unrequited love," Spencer said washing a piece of chicken down her throat with a sip of water.
Nodding in agreement, Hanna said, "She dated someone else like most people do in that situation. She was never an idiot, unless you count having a crush on you."
"You're running out of free passes, Hanna," Alison warned with her hands now flying back onto the table as her nervousness drowned in a shallow pond of Hanna's distrust.
"I can't wait to see this develop," Spencer commented out of fear and anticipation.
"So what about in college?" Alison asked. "Who did she date then?"
Hanna's entire body tensed as if paralyzed with fear at train barreling toward her. After a few seconds, she dug through her purse and snatched out her wallet. She stood and tossed down a twenty dollar bill as she stumbled, "I can't answer that. It's for her to tell. I've gotta go. Things to do. Ya know. Work."
"What just happened?" Spencer asked as they all watched Hanna sprint to her car across the street.
"I have no idea," Alison replied just as confused as her friends.
"That was really weird, right?" Aria spoke up. "It's not just me?"
"No," Alison said, "It's not just you. That was very strange."
"It would appear that college is off limits," Spencer commented setting down her fork and gingerly wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"Any idea why?" Aria asked Alison assuming she might have some insight.
"No. None at all," the blonde replied. "The only thing I know about her in college is that she knew Duncan, drank a lot and got a degree."
"And dated Samara for part of it," Spencer added another tidbit of information.
"So," Aria clarified awkwardly, "We've seen Emily smash a phone and her best friend literally run away from a question about her in college." She glanced at Alison. "Is it okay that I'm worried about this?"
Intrigued by a fly flitting around the table, Alison remained silent trying to collect her thoughts.
"Alison?" Spencer prompted when the blonde didn't respond.
"I'm sure there's an explanation." Alison tore her attention away from the fly.
A bit skeptical, Spencer agreed, "There's an explanation for most things but that doesn't make it a reasonable one."
Instead of answering, Alison began tearing off small bits of her napkin. Aria and Spencer exchanged a glance and mercifully migrated to another topic until they finished the rest of their meal. When Alison's phone buzzed in her purse, she smiled at a text from Emily asking her to come over later that night.
"Is that who I think it is?" Aria pried.
"Don't, Aria," Alison said sternly.
"We're allowed to be worried about you," the other woman continued, "Don't you think you might be rushing things?"
"Really rushing things." Spencer added promptly.
Shaking her head, Alison said, "I really don't want to fight about her."
"We don't either," Spencer said with a hand drifting across the table to grab one of Alison's.
"Then let's not do this right now," the blonde pleaded wanting to bathe in blissful ignorance and indulge in giddiness in anticipation for her visit to Emily's.
"Fine," Spencer conceded with a sigh as she drew back her hand. "But we're discussing this at some point."
"So," Aria shifted moods in accordance with Alison's request, "You're keeping your clothes on tonight right?"
Snorting, Alison asked, "Are you calling me easy?"
"No," the woman replied, "I'm calling you Alison."
"Thanks, Hanna," Alison replied with a smirk. "I don't need her rubbing off on the two of you."
Wondering aloud, Spencer said, "What would it have been like if we'd all been friends in high school?"
"Catastrophic," Alison replied knowingly with a smile.
"So why do we think it's going to work now?" Aria commented.
Slyly, Spencer replied, "Because Emily wants to—"
"Spencer!"
As Alison's fingers curled around the door knob to Emily's unlocked front door and she pushed it open, she chuckled at an unmistakable lyric from the Beach Boys' "California Girls" referencing the intrigue of a Southern girl's accent. Emily swayed to the music as she sat crossed legged in the living room surrounded by numerous piles of comic books.
"Are you seriously listening to the Beach Boys while organizing your comic book collection? I can't decide if that's cute or ridiculous."
Still bobbing her head to the beat, but trading her humming for speech, Emily confirmed, "Well if it isn't my Northern girl." After carefully placing a comic book encapsulated in a clear plastic case on top of one of the piles of comic books on the floor, she rocked backward and then hopped to her feet. Slinking over to the blonde, she added, "I hear their kissing keeps their boyfriends warm at night." Regardless of Alison's personal apathy toward the iconic band, the brunette's flirtatious application of the lyrics gave her a temporary affection for the song.
Clasping the outstretched hand before her as the repetitive "I wish they all could be California girls" faded, Alison replied, "And what do they do for their girlfriends?"
Emily jerked the blonde to her chest and prompted with both hands locked onto her hips, "You tell me."
Smiling at the mischievous woman, Alison answered, "I bet they keep them up all night." When Emily merely grinned in response, the blonde asked, "You wanna put that to the test?"
The brunette's lips crinkled into a smirk. When the song switched to a very familiar instrumental opening of "God Only Knows", her entire face swelled with giddiness. Once again grasping Alison by the hands, she slid backward gracefully until their arms sank into a tight inverted arch. "I kinda wanna know if they can dance."
"No, no, no, no, no," Alison stuttered desperately trying to wriggle her hands free. "I definitely can't dance. No way."
Unfazed by her resistance, the brunette pulled the squirming woman to her and replied, "Well, I can't sing, but the dancing and the singing are going to happen."
Caving to the stubborn woman's wishes and bracing herself for humiliation, Alison stopped struggling and allowed Emily to position their bodies for the impending train wreck of movement. The brunette brought Alison's left hand near the top of her shoulder, while sliding her own right hand around to Alison's back and left shoulder blade. In typical dance style, their other hands folded together and extended outward as Emily's feet engaged in some type of side and back steps.
As soon as the lyrics began, Emily belted out every word while attempting to coax some rhythm into her partner's body. With the brunette's unpolished yet on key singing mixed with the Beach Boys blasting in her ears, matching Emily's steps proved nearly impossible for the bumbling blonde.
Without flubbing a word in the sweet lyric, "God only knows what I'd be without you", Emily raised their outstretched arms and guided Alison underneath them with her right hand. Actually managing a spin with some semblance of grace, the blonde rolled back into the dancer's embrace to be greeted by a swift kiss on the lips before the brunette linked their hands together and nudged Alison outward.
Still singing with conviction, Emily nodded pointedly to her feet demonstrating her simple side to side and backward and forward stepping pattern. Wondering if the brunette actually knew what she was doing, Alison ventured, "Is this an actual dancing style?"
Emily smiled and gestured her dance partner backward and into a free spin. After clasping their hands together again and stepping forward to return her hand to Alison's back, Emily replied quickly over the music, "Modified swing."
While Emily spun them both to the left and glided Alison a few steps past her, the blonde asked, "Modified for what?"
After squeezing her eyes closed and straining at a few high notes, Emily clarified, "Bad dancers."
"Hey!" the fading repeating line of the chorus slowed their movement and this time it was Alison who yanked Emily toward her. "Don't make fun of me."
Pulling a small remote out of the right back pocket of her jeans, the dancer switched off the music and replied with a grin, "But it's so fun."
"Well, you can't sing," the other woman teased as her left hand slid into the now empty back pocket.
Emily tossed the palm sized remote onto the carpet and agreed, "I embrace my flaws."
The blonde gave the woman's ass a tiny squeeze, "I bet that takes a lot of effort."
Wanting a bit of Alison in her hand, Emily drew up the right side of Alison's blouse and grabbed a section of her waist. "What makes you say that?"
While the skin on her side tingled, Alison teased, "There's probably a lot of them."
"You're quite the smartass," Emily noticed with a sultry tone.
"I'm not so sweet and emotional now." Pressing her fingertips tucked into Emily's pocket one by one against the denim covered flesh, she prodded the brunette against her.
"You just can't dance," Emily said as her occupied hand grazed the shuddering skin around the top of Alison's skirt.
Her breathing a bit labored, Alison acknowledged, "We've covered that."
"It's okay," Emily replied with the same rough breathing pattern. "I'll take a Northern girl who can't dance." Earlier in the day, the brunette wore a look of wonder as she studied Alison's face. Now, awe was replaced by an intense gaze of greed. There was an insatiable want flaming in her eyes that cast a sexual shroud over the pair. Alison questioned her shaky commitment to honor Emily's request of delayed intimacy.
Alison muttered, "I hate to break it to you, but I think I actually qualify as an East Coast girl."
Dismissing the idea after biting her own lip, the brunette replied, "Whatever. We're north of something. I figure your kiss can keep me warm at night." She leaned forward with parted lips, but sought out the blonde's ear rather than her aching lips. "Or keep me up at night. Whatever you prefer."
"And well into the morning," the other woman breathed. Tired of teasing, Alison nudged Emily's head back with her free hand and latched her lips onto the brunette's smirking ones. This wasn't gentle or exploratory like their kisses a few hours ago. Although not her typical opening move, Ali plunged her tongue into the other woman's barely open mouth. Although scraped by Emily's teeth, her tongue was met with an equally eager wet, soft warmth.
Alison gasped as nails dug into the flawless skin on her lower back, forcing her to jerk backward to suck in fresh air. Impatient to enjoy the taste of the blonde, Emily's right hand tangled in Ali's hair on the nape of her neck and slammed together their wanting lips.
When Alison shifted and her fully clothed breasts pressed into Emily's covered chest, the brunette released an unexpectedly deep moan. Wondering if it was an incredibly sexy fluke, the blonde squeezed the woman tighter. This time, Emily shuddered and parted their lips to whimper, "Shit, Alison."
Satisfied with the momentary pause in kissing in exchange for Emily's reaction, Alison commented curiously, "I can honestly say I've never gotten a moan like that out of just holding someone against me. You do have a bra on right?"
"Are you really going to dissect this right now?" Emily's lips chased Ali's tauntingly dodging mouth. "I'm just really sensitive." Alison missed Emily's inflection indicating a concealment of the reason for the heightened sensitivity.
Desperate to hear more, Alison's right hand trailed just below Emily's bra on top of her shirt. "No, no, no," the brunette pleaded. Her continued attention to Alison's back and mouth didn't support her verbal resistance. The blonde slid her thumb upward until she encircled the cup of her bra. "Alison," Emily breathed a hollow warning before a pointer finger and thumb pressed firmly as they glided together meeting atop the brunette's nipple, or where Alison imagined it to be. An even louder moan bounced around in their mouths.
Excited enough to dampen her previously dry panties, the blonde replied with a small sound of her own, "Mmmm. What will you sound like when there's nothing between your skin and my hand?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emily mumbled through clenched teeth as Alison's fingers mercilessly massaged the fabric.
"Yeah, I really would," Alison baited. If she didn't think Emily's suggestion to wait was ridiculous a few minutes ago, she was utterly convinced of it now. If her fingers through a bra made Emily mutter her name in such a deliciously arousing tone, the thought of her mouth wrapped around her nipple with her tongue flicking the raised nub prompted a fantasy of a spontaneous attack with Emily face up on the floor and a hungry Alison desperately clawing off her clothing.
Unfortunately, the brunette intended to keep her word as she swatted the aggressive hand down toward her abdomen. "Patience is a virtue."
"Do I look virtuous to you?" Alison retorted with a defeated sigh as she contented herself with the skin on Emily's stomach. She forced herself to pout despite her delight in tracing the edges of the brunette's subtle muscles. Her fingers paused when they discovered a raised line about two inches to the right and above the brunette's pierced navel. She contemplated passing it by, but when Emily tensed at her touch, she inquired, "Em. What is—"
"Oh," Emily cleared her throat glancing down where her Northern girl's hand rested beneath her shirt, "Just one of my flaws."
"Can I look?" the blonde asked hesitantly. She was relieved when Emily's eyes met hers and she nodded sweetly. Alison lifted up the shirt a few inches as she backed up a step to get a clear view of the thin ridge beneath her fingers. She gasped when she uncovered a three inch scar. The eighth of an inch wide line was pale compared to the brown complexion of the rest of Emily's body. "Oh my god. How did you get that?" She continued to stare at the mark with interest, but not a hint of revulsion.
"Just an accident with some glass," the brunette said blandly.
As her gaze returned to Emily's face riddled with discomfort, Ali noted, "I've been cut by glass and it didn't leave a scar like that."
"I guess I just wasn't as lucky," Emily acted as though her face didn't taint her reply with dishonesty.
Alison cocked her head to the side and said, "Is there a reason you're lying about this?"
With a sigh that made her lips buzz, Emily conceded, "It's a long story, but it really was glass." She offered a smile hoping to convey her sincere intention to one day share the tale she presently chose to conceal.
"You enjoy being mysterious don't you?" Ali placed a reassuring kiss on the rattled brunette's lips, although she was a bit miffed by Emily's refusal to explain the existence of a noticeably large scar.
With an ear to ear grin and thankful look, Emily said as she leaned in to resume the activity her scar so rudely interrupted, "Almost as much as I enjoy this."
They heard a door knob turn and the front door swing open revealing another blonde who exclaimed at the sight of them, "Jesus, guys. Not again. Slow the fuck down with all the…" she awkwardly flapped and curved her hands in the air as if her motions meant something before finishing, "the girl on girl touchy sexy stuff. Once a day is enough for a new couple consisting of one recently engaged person."
Releasing a groaning Alison, Emily replied, "And you barging in once a day is one time too many."
"Well. You're done now," Hanna declared with finality and hands on her hips.
"Excuse me?" Alison returned. Still puzzled by Hanna's abrupt exit at their lunch, she had no intention of submitting to her unwelcome order.
"Nope. You're done," Emily thumbed toward the door. "Make tracks. We can talk about whatever it is later."
"We need to talk about that phone call."
Alison caught the twitch of horror that shot through Emily's body. The brunette replied carefully, "And we will. Tomorrow."
"No fucking way," Hanna scoffed. "As your best friend, I'm required to force you to talk about shit that makes you break your phone."
"Tomorrow," Emily almost yelled. Alison couldn't miss the fear littering Emily's facial features and curling her fingers into fists at her side. She'd momentarily forgotten about the phone call ending with a smashed phone on the sidewalk.
"Now, bitch!" Hanna insisted. It was shocking how the harsh word and tone managed to convey the woman's raw concern for her friend.
"Do you want me to go?" the blonde asked. If Emily's secrecy concerning her scar was any indication, Alison could only assume she wasn't welcome even if the brunette couldn't bring herself to say it.
"No," Emily replied hugging her arms across her own body.
"You're not getting out of this," Hanna raised an eyebrow. "She needs to go."
"Both of you come over here," Emily nodded toward one of the only rooms with furniture.
"Bad idea, Em," Hanna muttered out of the corner of her mouth as she plopped down in a chair at the far end of the dining room table. "Really bad idea."
Alright. By the end of next chapter, both you guys and Alison will know most of Emily's secrets. If it takes awhile for me to update, it's because I don't want to screw it up. Gird your loins!