"I won!" the voice echoed throughout the entire club. Emily and Alison exchanged astounded looks. That voice didn't belong to either of them, as well as neither of the other girls.
All eyes landed on Toby who picked up his card proudly and showed it to his friends. "We're going to Paris, you guys," he said excitedly to the group. Spencer laughed in delight, gave him a tight hug and kissed his cheek while everyone in the table cheered.
"I can't believe we're actually going to Paris like we've always wanted," Emily let out to Alison, smiling like a little kid. The blonde couldn't help but feel pure bliss at that moment, and it was such a strange yet exhilarating feeling. Her feeling of contentment was a direct result of the fact that they'd met the guys - which she was sure was a match made in heaven - the fact that Toby won the raffle, and most importantly, the fact that she would get to go to Paris with the beautiful brunette.
Their eight poeple group got up and hugged each other enthusiasticly, entering a huge group hug and smiling like crazy at each other. 'Sean, Noel and Andrew who?' Emily thought to herself as she watched her best friends with the guys.
It was so odd to think about. After all, they'd met these guys a mere few hours ago on this crazy night and now they were going to Paris with them in two weeks. They didn't know a lot about them but the connection just felt natural and long-time-coming. It felt like the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and the trip was guaranteed to bring them closer together. The three girls hadn't even gone on proper dates with their potential-boyfriends, and yet they were already planning to go to the city of love with them. And after all of that, nothing about it felt less than right.
Harris checked Toby's card and nodded, before gleefully handing him an envelope that contained eight plane tickets to Paris and his phone number, so they can arrange a meeting to set everything up.
Toby practically snatched it out of Harris' hand before turning to Spencer and hugging her from behind. Caleb hugged and spun Hanna up in the air, and Aria and Ezra were already kissing by the stage. Alison turned to Emily with the most genuine of smiles, her dimples showing. She placed her arms around her neck, before leaning forward and pressing her lips fully against the brunette's. Emily held her close by the waist, not breaking their liplock.
They heard someone whistling and catcalling at them in the background, but they just didn't care. Emily parted from Alison and pecked her one more time on the lips for good measure, the butterflies running wild in her stomach.
"How long are we going away for?" Emily asked breathlessly, hoping Alison would take the hint play along.
Alison smiled sweetly at the nostalgic memory.
"How 'bout forever?"
XXXXX
As the night came close to an end, the guys suggested to drive the girls home, where they decided to pull an all-nighter in Emily's house since they couldn't possibly fall asleep after a night like that.
As they stepped giddily out of the club, Emily was so elated, that she even found herself playfully giving Alison a piggyback ride all the way to the car.
"Say cheese!" they turned around to see a joyful Spencer with her phone. Alison leaned forward and gave her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek for the photo. Spencer looked at them with a satisfied smirk and took the photo.
Once they arrived at the cars, the brunette gently lowered Alison to the ground and they both climbed inside.
The boys dropped them off after riding in two separate cars and parted from them with goodnight greeting and hugs. They were all on a rightful high from the night, not really wanting to separate but knowing that they had to for the time being. They all exchanged phone numbers and Alison opened a group chat for them all. Aria giggled to herself as she used the picture Spencer took earlier of Alison and Emily as the group photo.
The girls we're all wonderstruck by the whole outstanding evening they've had, and gushed about every single detail as they walked up to Emily's room, though careful enough not to disrupt Pam's peaceful slumber. After starting to watch a movie, they hastily realized that they couldn't stop chatting throughout it, so they decided to take a walk around the neighborhood instead.
As Emily and Alison walked down the stairs, the blonde whispered playfully in her ear, "Let's go to the kissing rock."
Emily turned to her apologetically, "We can't really do that right now, the girls are here."
"Oh, come on, Em, we can go there, they can go somewhere else and then we'll all meet up some time afterward."
Emily mulled about the idea for a second, but once she saw Alison's daring smile she couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head lightly, "Okay."
And that's what they did. They told the girls their plan, and after they all agreed and said they would meet at The Grille (which was open 24/7 on the summer vacations) at midnight, Aria, Hanna and Spencer went off somewhere together, while Emily and Alison started walking in the direction of the kissing rock.
After a good twenty minute walk, they reached their spot. "We used to come here all the time," Alison said in a remote tone, looking straight into the distance. "I always had the best time here with you. Some of my favorite memories are from this place," Alison reminisced dreamily and sighed.
She looked at Emily with a smile. "Remember when I asked you 'who do you wanna take there'? Well, I remember seeing that tiny, surprised look on your face, but I already knew I wanted to take you here, Em," she ran her fingers over the side of the rock, where it said in bright red letters surrounded by a heart "EF+AD".
Emily smiled in nostalgia once she noticed what Alison was looking at. "I actually have a picture of that in my room," she laughed to herself, "I was so excited when we wrote that." Alison turned to giggle at Emily, and the brunette backtracked, uttering, "You probably think it's stupid, I-"
"No, Em. I think it's adorable," she took a seat next to Emily on the rock and intertwined their fingers. Emily smiled calmly, bringing their attached hands close to her mouth and placing a small kiss on them.
The blonde rested her head on Emily's shoulder. "I love you so much, Em. You know that, right?" she looked up at Emily who was smiling shyly.
"I do. I love you too, Ali," she answered quietly in promise.
Alison leaned her head back onto Emily's shoulder, fulfilled, and Emily rested her head on top of Alison's. She took in a deep breath, inhaled the blonde's sweet vanilla aroma, and sighed in pleasure.
The two girls just stayed like that, in comfortable silence for the most part, every now and then voicing out a memory they remembered from the past. They remained with their heads resting softly and their fingers intertwined together, for what seemed like hours. It was so intimate, yet not in the sexual sense of the word. The air wasn't charged, it was peaceful. It was an innocent and special moment that they could've only had with each other.
Suddenly, Emily's phone beeped and she unlocked it to find a message from Hanna: Hey, where are you guys? We're at The Grille.
"I completely forgot we were supposed to meet them," Emily stated nervously as she stood up and stretched her arm to Alison.
Alison pouted. "Ugh, do we really have to go?" she whined.
"Yes," Alison raised her eyebrows and Emily added, "but we can come back another time." She smiled at the stubborn blonde, who could only smile in return before grabbing Emily's hand and standing up.
She pulled Emily close to her and nudged their noses together before whispering in a playful tone, "Promise?"
"Promise."
XXXXX
Alison and Emily finally arrived at The Grille at half past midnight, after walking all the way back from the kissing rock. The three girls were already seated. Hanna was stretching out her arm to Aria and Spencer who sat across from her, showing them something on her phone. They threw their heads back laughing loudly as Hanna did the same.
"What's so funny?" Emily inquired playfully as she sat down with Alison.
"Nothing, it's just Ezra trying to imitate Michael Jackson," Aria said in between laughs. Hanna showed Emily and Alison a video, which was sent in the group chat, of a very frustrated Ezra trying to mimic Michael Jackson dance moves while Caleb and Toby, who were filming, laughed hysterically at him in the background.
The girls all looked at each other before bursting out laughing together. Their new friends slash love interests were crazy, but in the best of ways. When the laughter subsided, Aria suggested, "Let's take a pic and send it to them."
The girls agreed and Aria pulled out her phone as they all posed for a photo. She clicked send and in a matter of seconds, the guys started commenting back on how beautiful they looked.
"I'm really glad that we met these guys," Alison said seriously. She was pretty used to having guy friends, since everyone in their school knew who she was, but having guy friends who truly didn't want to get with her was very refreshing, and she could tell they were going to make Aria, Spencer and Hanna very happy.
"Me too," the four girls replied almost in unison, before giggling at themselves.
"Let's raise a toast," Spencer raised her glass high in the air and the girls did the same. "To our new guys," she said in satisfaction.
"And to Paris, bitches," Alison sassed and they all laughed and clinked their cups.
Emily turned her head to look at Alison as the blonde did the same. They smiled fondly at each other before clinking their own cups.
"Cheers."