RULE #4: A ROMANTIC ATMOSPHERE IS THE KEY

Emily lowered her goggles on her eyes and took a deep breath. It was her first time in the pool since her injury but her shoulder was already hurting when it wasn't supposed to. She was only doing easy laps and was not going too fast. Perhaps her injury was worse than she thought.

Suddenly, she heard cries coming from the pool where the U21 team trained. The girls were jumping out of water desperately like crazy dolphins and Emily wondered what had caused such frenzy. The answer was casually sitting on a bench near the U21 pool:

Alison fucking DiLaurentis.

The blonde was apparently oblivious to the mess she'd created, strolling through her phone like the good businesswoman she was.

"What the fuck is she doing here?" Emily heard Paige whisper from the other side of the pool.

"Wow, she's really pretty," Sydney commented absentmindedly and Shana rolled her eyes.

"Come on, girls, we've got a lot of swimming to do," They all lowered their gazes and began to swim again.

Emily turned her head and found Alison staring back at her. The blonde winked and Emily hid the blush on her cheeks by diving underwater.


Emily finished her practice one hour earlier so she could get her shot and work on her arm. As soon as she left the pool and wrapped a towel around her body, she heard footsteps coming from behind.

"Emily!" Alison waved, "Can I join you?"

"Uh… I'll just take my shot, but sure," She responded awkwardly, feeling Paige's jealous glare burn on the back of her head, "I'll just take a quick shower and then we can go."

"Okay," Alison went back to the bench she was sat on earlier as Emily went to the locker room.


"Dr. Rollins?" Emily entered into his office with Alison in her tow.

"Ready for your shot today, Fields?" Rollins was already preparing the needle when he set his eyes on Alison. He checked her out and Emily didn't know why, but she felt disgusted, "And who's the lovely lady with you?"

"I'm Alison DiLaurentis," The blonde came forward and offered her hand to the doctor.

"You're the beauty from the Carissimi Group, am I correct?" Rollins kissed the back of Alison's hands and Emily rolled her eyes. That guy was so unprofessional!

"You're right," Alison pulled her hand back, "What do you have in that needle?"

"Painkillers, mostly. Fields, take a seat," Rollins said and she obeyed. Alison sat right beside her. Rollins sat on Emily's left side, rubbed a cotton ball against her forearm and then injected the medicine. Emily gasped in pain and, surprisingly, Alison was rubbing circles on the back of her hand. Emily didn't know why, but her touch was eerily relaxing.

"There, there," Rollins took out the needle a couple of seconds later, "You'll be good to go."

"Thank you," Emily got up from her seat and Alison did the same.

"See you around, Alison?" Rollins asked and Emily shifted uncomfortably.

The blonde just turned around and said, "Perhaps. Now Emily and I have things to discuss," She took Emily by the hand and dragged her out of his office.

As soon as they were out of the doctor's room, Alison turned around and asked, "Ready for your second lesson?"

"Today?!"

The blonde frowned, "Is it a bad day?"

"No, it's not," Emily looked away, "I'm just surprised, that's all."

"Okay," Alison nodded awkwardly, "Can you come to my place for your second lesson?"

"What time?"

"Six."

"I can manage that," Emily agreed.

"Perfect," Alison said, "I gotta go now. See you later, Em."

"… See you," The brunette was wonderstruck because of Ali calling her by the nickname.


Alison bought a burner phone as soon as she left the USA Swim Team training facility and dialed Lorenzo's number.

"Detective Calderon speaking."

"Agent Darkbloom speaking," Alison used her alias, "Have we investigated the doctor?" "There's no reason to. Why?"

Alison rolled her eyes,"I just thought it could be a great start, considering we're dealing with genetic doping."

"What are you talking about, Alison?" Lorenzo demanded.

"Listen, I saw the doctor… He goes by Rollins, I guess… he was injecting something into Emily's shoulder. He told me it was a pain killer, but I'm not so convinced."

"Agent Darkbloom, that's not unusual. It's just a doctor taking care of his patient."

"Alright, Lorenzo. I just thought we might look into it because the main way of getting modified genes into your body is using a needle."

Lorenzo sighs in defeat, "Okay, but even so: no judge will give a warrant to investigate him and we can't talk to him because it's a secret investigation. We don't want it to be all over the press!"

"Then let me break into his office and I'll find out!" Alison suggested.

"Wait, are you insane, Vivian?! Any evidence you find won't be usable in court! I'll have Agent Smith remind you that!"

"I'll just see what's he using in those needles, take a picture and then we say it was an anonymous tip," Alison insisted. She knew she was about to break a bunch of federal rules, but she honestly didn't care. The thought of that creepy doctor injecting weird substances into Emily's body made her want to puke.

"Too risky. Agent Smith won't like it. And what if you get caught?"

"You know that's not a possibility, right?" She sassed.

Lorenzo huffs, "Fine, Ali. Find those needles. But if nothing comes up, then forget about it!" "I'm never wrong!"

"And be careful around Emily!" Lorenzo advised, "She might be involved in this."

"I honestly don't think so, Lorenzo," Alison said. No way sweet Emily Fields would be involved in a doping scheme.

"You never know. Just promise you'll be careful."

"Promise," Alison turns off, drops her phone and smashes it with her heels.


A few hours later, Emily was already in Ali's apartment wearing her best jeans and her best plaid shirt while the blonde was wearing legging pants and a loose T-shirt. Emily wondered how Alison could look so beautiful while dressing so simple.

"Okay, now that you're here we can move on to our next topic," Ali began, "The romantic atmosphere."

"It all begins with image. How you present yourself is the key of seducing people. First of all, it's not all about the clothes. If you wear the right thing, it will make an impact, but only if you're comfortable enough. But I don't think that is your problem, Emily," Alison remarks, eyeing her up and down and Emily blushes, "Anyway, first you dress comfortable. Second, you act like you're confident. The key word is act. You don't need to be confident, you just need to play the part."

"Do YOU play the part?" Emily asked.

"Sometimes. Took me a while to learn all of this. I remember it was hard for me to accept that I like girls. I only did that after my sister came out to us as a trans woman and that encouraged me to do the same. So, I came up to them and said, 'I'm bi'. I held my head high, but my knees were shaking. Then, they all said 'we know'. It was a relief almost as much as it was a joke."

Emily laughed, "I can't imagine you being insecure."

"Told you it happens," Ali winked, "But after you act confident, you build up some courage and go talk to the person. It could be about anything. Then you say something good about their appearance. You give her some lingering touches. Then, you ask if you can take her home. When you do, ask for a glass of wine. It always helps to take the next step. But don't drink more than one glass because you might get her or yourself drunk and then the night is over."

"Oh," Emily blinked in surprise, "That sounds interesting!"

"Yes, it does," Alison smiled gently, "But I have to let you know that it works differently for everyone."

"What do you mean?"

"People are different, Emily. That means that they're seduced by different things and what works for one might not work for the other."

"And how do you know what works for people and what doesn't?" Emily was panicking. What if she couldn't figure out how to seduce Paige – or anyone, for that matter? She sucked at dating!

"Luckily, there are things that work for most people generally speaking," Alison explained, "For example, a soft song you can dance to," The blonde takes a remote control and presses a button. Then, a jazz song started to play and Alison got up and offered Emily her hand:

"Shall we dance?"

"Alison, I can't dance."

"You need to trust yourself, Em," There goes that nickname again making her all weak and Emily doesn't know why, "You're not at Dancing With The Stars. It's just you and me here."

The swimmer blushes and takes Alison's hand hesitantly. Alison tugs Emily closer and puts her hands on her waist. Emily wraps her arms around Alison's neck and they began to sway gently to the music. Emily stared straight up the wall as she tried not to look at the blonde dancing with her for fear that she might blush or do something awkward. And then Alison accidentally stepped on her foot.

"Ops!" The blonde laughed, making Emily laugh too as she relaxed into her arms, "See, you're better at dancing than I am!"

Emily chuckled and accidentally found Alison's azure eyes. She shook her head and stared at the wall again.

"Em," Alison gently squeezed her waist, making the brunette squirm, "Look me in the eye."

"Okay," Emily whispered and looked at Alison once again. Their eyes locked and set Emily's heart racing as her her knees wobbled. Why did she make her feel like this? Did Alison feel the same? Probably not, the blonde has been seducing women since forever. Why would Emily be different?

Unable to hold their gaze any longer, Emily settled for hugging Alison, resting her chin on the blonde's shoulder.

"Good move, Emily," Alison commented, "Hugging the person you're dancing with makes everything feel more… intimate."

Emily nodded and they danced in silence until the song ended. When they finally pulled away, Alison's blue eyes had a different sparkle to them and Emily would have dove into them had her shoulder not stung. What was going on?

"You did really well in dancing, Em," She commented, "I think it's time to get some wine."

"I can't drink wine, Alison. Paige can't either," Emily reminded her.

"But you two were drinking champagne in the gala party," Alison pointed out.

"That's because it was a special occasion, but we really can't."

"Okay, okay, a glass of water will do, I guess," Alison let out a conformed breath, "Let's got to the kitchen."


Emily followed Alison into the kitchen doing her best to ignore the pain in her arm. Alison fetches two glasses, pours water in them, and hands one to Emily. At that exact moment, an excruciating pain jolts through her arm and Emily releases the glass, making it fall and shatter on the floor.

"Emily, are you okay?" Alison moved to her side faster than Emily had expected.

"Yes, yes, it's just-" Emily slouches against the counter and rubs her injured shoulder, "It's never hurt this bad."

"Let me take you to the couch, okay?" Alison delicately pulled her by the waist and guided her back to the living room.

"I'm sorry about the glass, Ali," Emily said as she threw herself onto the couch.

"I'll clean the kitchen later, don't worry," Alison assured her and smiled, "So, you're calling me Ali, huh?"

Emily blushed, almost forgetting about the pain in her shoulder, "It slipped."

"I don't mind," Alison winked, "Wait here, I'm gonna grab some water for you."


Ten minutes later and Alison came back to find Emily crying on her couch.

"Sweetie," Alison sat beside her and put a hand on her uninjured shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"My shoulder, Ali," Emily sobbed, "What if I can never swim again?"

"Emily, don't say things like that!"

"The pain is not going away. It's even worse today that I begin to swim again."

"Hey," Alison cradled Emily's cheeks, making her look at her, "It's all part of your recovery, Emily. You're going to be alright."

The brunette shook her head in denial, "I don't know if I'll ever be in Olympic level again."

"Your doctor would've told you if something was wrong," Alison pointed out, "Don't you trust him."

Emily's hesitation told her all she wanted to hear.

"If you don't trust him, maybe you should look for another doctor."

"I can't! The team wouldn't like it and I'd have to hear Paige go on and on about how Dr. Rollins is one of the best in the world."

"Tell your team you want a second suggestion," Alison suggested, "And ignore Paige. It's your shoulder that's hurting, not hers."

Emily nodded timidly and Alison read the sign. Emily was not used to standing up for herself in her relationship with Paige.

"I know that our arrangement is supposed to be purely professional but I want you to know that you can talk to me, Em," Alison put one hand over Emily's and squeezed, "About your shoulder, about your relationship with Paige, about anything you want."

"Thanks, Ali," Emily smiled, quite surprised at Ali's open behavior.

"You're always welcome."


Alison didn't know how much time she spent comforting Emily but, unfortunately, the brunette had to leave. Alison wishes their moment had frozen in time and she could hold Emily forever. The intensity of this feeling scared her. She didn't think she could grow attached to the swimmer so quickly.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Alison asked as Emily stood by her door, "You can stay the night if you want."

Emily smiled shyly and Ali found it adorable.

Fuck, she needed to stop.

"I'll be fine," Emily assured her, "And Paige will be worried if I don't come back soon."

Ali's face dropped at the mention of the other swimmer, but she concealed it by cleaning her throat.

"Okay then. Call me if you need anything."

"Thanks, Ali," Emily nods, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Em."

Alison expects Emily to turn around and leave but, much to her surprise, Emily leans in and kisses her cheek. Then, she runs away abruptly, leaving a very dumbstruck Ali behind.