'Did Emily just call me babe?' Alison thought to herself in astonishment as she stood speechless in front of the exit door with a stupidly huge smirk on her face. Needless to say, she was very pleasantly surprised by the pet name.
"Ali, are you coming?" Toby asked as he walked past the blonde.
"Huh? Yeah, let's go," Alison snapped from her thoughts and somehow managed to distractedly answer Toby's question.
"What were you just thinking about?" Aria questioned as she approached Toby and Alison.
"What do you mean?" Alison inquired in false-innocentness.
"You just seemed like you were daydreaming about something really good. You were staring into the distance and smiling like crazy," Aria explained and chuckled along with Toby.
The three started walking towards the door. "Well, Emily just called me babe," Alison grinned smugly to herself.
The blonde was so relieved for not having to hide her relationship with Emily in front of her supportive friends. It made their gatherings ten times better since she didn't have to worry all the time about getting caught and could just enjoy her time with the group. She reminded herself that now, all that was truly left was to tell their parents.
"Emily? Called you 'babe'? That's so you of her," Aria laughed to herself.
"Yeah, Alison, I think you're rubbing off some of your magic on her," Toby joked and Alison playfully rolled her eyes at him.
'Hopefully, I am,' she mused.
Toby opened the door and held it while both girls walked past him, and the three of them joined their friends.
Alison walked towards Caleb's car to look for Emily. While glancing around, she suddenly felt a pair of warm arms wrapping around her waist from behind. She recognized Emily's beautifully tanned arms and grinned widely. The brunette held her tight and rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder.
Alison placed her hands on Emily's, "Babe? Really?"
Emily chuckled with her cheeks flushed. "Maybe," she answered in fake nonchalance.
Alison turned herself to face Emily and placed her arms around the brunette's neck. Their faces were inches away as they stared into each other's eyes. Alison raised an eyebrow and whispered mischievously, "Prove it."
Emily did the one thing she knew the blonde wanted her to do and leaned forward. She met Alison's lips and instantly her hands flew to the blonde's soft locks. Emily leaned Alison's back gently on the side of Caleb's car. They kissed and kissed, every electric second registering in their minds. When it came to Emily, Alison felt that every kiss was truly better than the last one, that was one of the reasons why she couldn't find it in her to stay away from the girl.
Emily pulled away from the kiss and softly tucked a strand of hair behind Alison's ear. "I love you, Alison DiLaurentis," she whispered quietly.
"I love you more, Emily Fields."
XXXXX
They arrived at the beach after a short ride, again, in two separate cars. The guys had brought along two cars to the Busy Bee Inn in the first place, recognizing the fact that they obviously couldn't squeeze everyone into just one car.
Emily and Alison stepped out of the car along with Caleb and Hanna, smelling the sweet, salty scent of the ocean. The blonde reached for Emily's hand and the brunette smiled softly.
Looking down at the beautiful beach from where she was standing, the brunette's smile faltered once she saw who else was at the beach; the popular seniors from Rosewood High, aka Alison's friends. Alison was best friends with the four girls, but she had friends all around Rosewood and outside the town, as well. The seniors loved Alison and treated her like a little sister, except all the guys wanted to hook up with her.
'Shit,' Alison thought in exasperation as she glanced in the direction Emily was looking. The girls hadn't officially announced their relationship to the world, but since Ben and Noel's jerk friends told people about what happened, almost everyone in Rosewood High already knew about them. The girls knew how fast words traveled in Rosewood, but they didn't know it was that fast.
Alison was quite surprised that their parents hadn't heard about them yet, but she was grateful for that nonetheless since she wanted to tell them herself, and of course, wanted Emily to do the same.
At that moment, Alison knew she couldn't show any weakness, especially when she was with Emily, since she didn't want to disappoint her. She took control of the situation because she knew Emily wouldn't, and kept a tight hold of the brunette's hand while they descended the wooden steps that led to the beach from the parking lot. She acted as though those seniors weren't there, even though she could feel their eyes drilling into the side of her head. The group kept walking towards a spot to settle down.
They spread their blanket on the sand and Ezra placed a picnic basket on top of it. The guys had made the food for the picnic like they had promised they would, and the girls were mighty impressed. They all settled down on top of the large blanket and started eating the food from the basket.
"Hey, Alison!" one of the seniors came up to the blonde. He was muscular, blond and blue-eyed.
'Almost too perfect to be true,' Emily cynically thought to herself as she felt a small, jealous fire sparking up inside of her.
"Hi, Ethan," Alison answered him tiredly. She risked a look at Emily, whose fists were clenched harshly at her sides, as though trying to hold herself back. Alison knew the circumstances were rough, but she couldn't help but unconsciously think that Emily was stunning when she was mad.
"So, I see you two have been extra friendly," he leered, looking between Emily and Alison with a raised eyebrow.
'Great. Why do all the guys in Rosewood have to be such jerks?' Emily thought begrudgingly to herself as she watched Ethan in a disgusted manner.
"Hey, you better back off," Toby warned him from his place next to Spencer. Emily threw him a thankful look and Toby gave her a sympathetic smile.
Ethan ignored Toby's words. "I'm telling you, all you need to do to be cured of this, is one night with me. I'll fix you right up," Ethan said sleazily to Alison, earning encouraging laughs from his friends in the back.
"You wish you had a night with me, asshole," Alison retorted, rolling her eyes at him. "I don't need to be cured or fixed. How 'bout you run back to your pathetic little group over there?" she nodded her head towards Ethan's friends.
The fact that he simply didn't acknowledge her command and continued, only infuriated her more.
"Maybe we can arrange a little playdate, huh?" Ethan pointed his fingers at the two girls and laughed smugly, his friends watching in anticipation.
Caleb stood up in annoyance and lifted his fist in the air. "Caleb, don't," Alison called out to her friend. "He's not worth it. It's not your problem to fix," she reassured him. Caleb shook his head in exasperation, gave Ethan a look of resentment, and sat back down next to Hanna. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively as he stared down the guy.
"Well, it is mine," Emily stood straight in frustration and pushed the guy. The thought of him continuing to taunt her and Alison while blanatly hitting on her girlfriend was an infuriating one and she could feel her blood boiling in all the wrong ways. He looked unimpressed and pushed her back. Alison stood up and grabbed the brunette's hand, not wanting her to get hurt. Ethan was a buff guy, and if the jerk had no problem hurting girls, Alison didn't want Emily to get caught in the middle. She pulled her back, allowing Emily to calm down a little.
Alison walked over furiously to Ethan and warned, "If you don't stop now, I promise you I will make your life miserable. Because in Rosewood, bitches get buried. One word from me, and you and your posse of pervs will have no social life."
He looked at her for a second, and Alison swore she saw hesitance, or some sort of weakness in his eyes, before his steeled face returned and snorted, making a telephone sign with his hand as he mouthed, "Call me".
"Hey!" an enraged Emily yelled at him as she advanced forward. She was now standing directly behind Ethan. He turned around with a bored expression, and was greeted by a fist to his jaw.
The punch threw him back, and he was struggling to maintain on his feet. "You bitch!" he called out and placed his hand on his jaw. He hissed at the pain as Emily walked back to Alison.
The brunette embraced her in her arms, whispering, "Are you okay?"
Alison, still in shock from Emily's boldness, nodded and whispered back, "I'm fine, Em, are you alright?"
"Yeah. I just couldn't hear another word he said. I'm sorry," Emily said as she rubbed the blonde's back soothingly.
Alison backed away from the hug but kept her hands in the same position on the brunette's back. "Don't be sorry for standing up to me. I love you," she said in all honesty to her girlfriend.
"I love you, too," Emily replied softly.
By this time, Ethan had escaped with his wounded jaw and his friends were thankfully out of sight. The girls sat back down on the blanket in relief.
"Emily: 2, annoying jackasses: 0. Third time's a charm," Ezra joked as he turned to Emily. They all laughed and Ezra gave the brunette a high five. Emily rested her arm around the blonde's shoulder and Alison eased into her girlfriend's touch. She grabbed Emily's hand and kissed the top of her knuckles, which were red from the punch she just swung at Ethan.
She smiled at the brunette and her eyes were only showing affection and admiration. For the first time in her life, Alison felt truly safe. She felt secure and protected in her mermaid's arms, both physically and mentally, and she knew that Emily would always defend her and her honor.
On Emily's part, she felt confident and bold when she was around her girlfriend. She felt as if she could do anything. Dare she say, fearless. Alison was the only one who made her feel that way, and she knew she would never let that feeling slip away. It felt sensational.
The group finally fell into blissful peace, now that they were the only ones on sight at the beach. Once they finished eating, they decided to walk around the beach a little. They walked peacefully along the shore, and after a while, they all headed back to their blanket and sat down, watching the sunset take place.
As Alison's head rested in the crook of Emily's neck, her eyes traveled to the brunette's face, watching all of the different sunset colors reflecting on the girl's face. She was mesmerized by Emily's gripping beauty. She even remembered being somewhat threatened by how gorgeous Emily was when they'd first met.
After some time, Ezra glanced regretfully at his watch. "It's getting late, we better go if we want to make it on time for our reservations at the restaurant," he suggested wisely.
It didn't take long for them all to agree and they stood up to leave, folding the blanket and putting the leftovers back in the basket.
Once they reached Rosewood, each girl was dropped off at her own home, since they all wanted to dress up rather fancy for the restaurant, and preferred to do it alone.
Emily was more nervous than ever about that night. It was going to be the first time she went with Alison to dinner as her girlfriend. She had always thought dinner was ten times more serious than breakfast and lunch combined. She felt the weight being placed on her shoulders and she didn't want to let the blonde down in any way.
A few streets away, Alison stood in her room, preparing for the up-and-coming dinner. Though she would never admit it, for the first time in her life, she felt uncertain about a date. She wasn't anxious because of Emily, she was simply nervous about being out with her in that forum. The blonde shook her thoughts as she started searching through her closet for something to wear.
She selected clothes and placed them on the bed. She chose an elegant pink dress that reached her knees and a belt to go with it. She made a simple hairdo and did her make-up in front of the vanity while humming to herself.
She was about to start her way over to Emily's house and pick her up on their way to Hanna's like they had planned when a sudden voice sounded behind her.
"Going on a date?" Jason asked rhetorically as he stood in her doorway. She jumped, not noticing he was there, and turned to face her brother.
"Jason! You scared me. Ever heard of knocking, idiot?"
He ignored her question and just snorted to himself. "Ethan talked to me today. His jaw was all bruised up and busted. He said Emily Fields punched him?"
Alison's jaw dropped slightly in shock and she stood there speechlessly. She had completely forgotten that Ethan and Jason were friends from basketball pick-up games at the park. "You know what else he told me?" Jason continued and slowly stepped into his sister's room. "He said that Emily did it because she was standing up for you. Because you're her girlfriend."
The blonde didn't even know how to even begin answering him. She wanted to try and deny it but from the knowing look in his eyes, she knew he wouldn't relent. She had never thought Jason would find out, especially before she even told her parents. But after months of keeping her thoughts about Emily a secret, the smug look on Jason's made her straighten her back and answer simply, "Okay. Anything else?"
Jason was taken aback from her comment and cleared his throat. "Is it true?"
Alison fumbled with her dress before looking up and timidly answering, "Yes."
Jason's jaw dropped a little before he returned to his senses and started smirking in amusement to himself.
"Something funny?" Alison asked harshly as she raised her eyebrows.
"I knew she was into you, Ali, but I just didn't know you felt the same way. I wonder how mom and dad are going to-"
"Jason, I swear, if you tell them, you will live to regret it." Alison threatened between gritted teeth as she interrupted him mid-sentence.
"Who's gonna stop me?" Jason challenged boldly as he stepped closer to Alison.
Usually, Alison would threaten to call their grandmother, knowing Jason wanted her inheritance money, but she discerned that this threat was starting to run out of influence on him.
Instead, she sat on the bed, exasperated, and Jason frowned. He had expected the blonde to fight back like she always did.
"Jason, I'm going to tell them soon. Please, If you ever cared even slightly about me, don't ruin the best thing I have going on in my life," she spoke surprisingly soft.
He frowned for several moments at the sight of his sister so out-of-character, taking a seat on the bed next to her. She watched him apprehensive lay out of the corner of her eye.
"Fine. I won't tell them," she eventually let out.
"Why not?" she asked in a bitter tone, not putting it past her brother to 'out' her to their parents.
He chuckled unhumorously, "Messing with you isn't fun when you don't actually fight back." She fought a small grin at his words. "Besides," he started, "I think I've always liked Emily the best out of your group. She's nice even when she doesn't have to be. But," he paused, pulling a weirded-out look, "why is she always smiling?"
Alison released an amused laugh at the question. "She's not. She only does that when she's around me," she finished smugly.
Jason tried to hold back a small, humored grin, shaking his head lightly, "Whatever."
"Thank you. For not telling," she said, still shocked by Jason's acts. Saying that they'd never had the best relationship was the understatement of the year.
Jason gave her a tiny shrug. "It's fine, I guess. Do you... Do you love her?"
Alison nodded and smiled softly. "I think I've loved her for a while now, I just didn't really know it."
He gave her a quizzical, skeptical look, but when she turned to stare at him, he was taken back by the honesty in her expression. He gave her a small nod and promptly exited the room.
Alison remained sitting there, rendered speechless for the third time that day.