Emily placed the glass rectangular container of lemon cake on the dining table. Her ears strained to hear her parents talking casually upstairs. Nowadays, her father's home days arrangement wasn't so clear. In the past, he would come back only on particular weekends and that was only when he could actually make it, but recently, the army's been actually cutting him the slack he deserved, and since he was now residing in the Pennsylvania base, he had been coming home on some weekdays also. Emily couldn't have been more pleased about this kind of change, since she finally got to see her father more and he was still serving their country proudly and bravely.
She turned to see her parents bounding down the stairs, laughing sweetly. She smiled graciously at them, though she was still undeniably tired. After she had come back last night from a great night with her friends and girlfriend, her parents had practically begged her to tell them everything that had happened, and she couldn't find herself saying no. She had ended up falling asleep a little after 3 AM. She didn't mind it. In fact, she valued the fact that her parents took an actual interest in what turned to be one of the best nights ever. Besides, she had been dying to spill her guts when they'd asked her, and it just gave her another reason to talk about the amazing evening.
Her mother disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a tray of chocolate chip cookies she had made earlier that morning.
Emily walked up to her, taking the tray from Pam's hands and echoing the older woman's smile. Placing it down on the table, she turned to both her parents. "So," she started tentatively, getting both her parents' attention, "how come you're suddenly inviting Jason over for coffee?" A second later, she added, "Not that I'm complaining, I think it's nice that-"
"It's alright, Emmy, I understand what you're asking," Wayne assured. "To answer your question, yesterday was the first time we ever got to really talk to Jason. Well, without Kenneth and Jessica looming over him."
Pam nodded, "And while we got to talking, he had some very nice things to say about you and how he was glad to see Alison so happy."
Emily blushed with a small grin.
"So, we figured we wanted to get to know Jason better, and inviting him seemed like a reasonable thing to do," her father finished, taking a seat at the end of the dining table.
Emily nodded in understanding, gratified by her parents' answers. It was nice to see this trio being formed; her mom, her dad and Ali's brother, Jason. The three of them were - at least after all this time - supportive of her relationship with Alison and she felt very fortunate to be surrounded by all this love.
She was so invested in her thoughts, that by the time the doorbell rang, she didn't even jump a foot in the air like she usually did. Her parents did though, and while getting up to open the door, Pam muttered something to Wayne about replacing the horrid doorbell immediately.
When she heard a soft chat taking place, she stood up, waiting for Jason to walk in with her parents. Jason entered the room, giving Emily a short hug then taking a seat with her father at the table, shaking Wayne's hand with a grin. When her mother didn't enter right after, the brunette frowned in confusion. She walked further down the room, passing the wall that separated the dining room and the foyer.
She was surprised to see Alison conversing casually with her mother. She hadn't even known Alison was coming. She could've... helped her mother make more cookies, or something. The swimmer shook out of her trance when her mother called out to her, "Emily, don't you want to say hi to Alison?"
Emily picked up her gaze to see Alison smiling at her softly and her mother staring at her curiously. She nodded timidly in response, and walked up to the pair. When she was standing directly in front of Alison, her cheeks began painting themselves faint red. She turned to her mother, embarrassed, "Um, mom?"
Pam turned to her, "Yes, sweetie?"
"C-Can I talk to Alison?"
Pam hummed in agreement, blinking expectantly at Emily.
"Alone?" Emily stressed, her cheeks burning red. Alison let out a low chuckle, trying to stifle it as she looked away.
"Oh," Pam's eyebrows rose up her forehead in surprise, "of course! I'll just - I'll be in the kitchen, girls."
With one final look, Pam walked away, leaving Emily and Alison to their own devices. The brunette turned to a chuckling Alison, swatting at her shoulder lightly. "It's not funny," she grumbled, though she couldn't stop grinning a bit herself.
"You can kiss me in front of your mom, you know," Alison informed gently, the laughter dying down.
"I know... I guess it just feels a little weird, that's all. There's a big difference between kissing you in front of our friends and kissing you in front of my parents."
Alison nodded in understanding. Her lips curved into a small smile, "All this talk about kissing and you haven't even kissed me yet."
Emily gave her a lopsided grin, then cupped the blonde's face in both her hands delicately, placing a soft kiss on Alison's lips. "Good morning," she mumbled in a quiet voice against her lips, realizing she hadn't even greeted the girl yet.
Alison smiled wider, showing her dimples. She looked into Emily's eyes earnestly, "It's a great morning."
A light knocking sound disturbed them. They turned around to see Jason standing in the doorway from the dining room to the front door area. He lowered his arm, stating, "Em, your mom needs your help with something in the kitchen."
"O-Oh, yeah, sure," Emily stammered, rushing to pass Jason in the doorway and making her way to the kitchen.
He chuckled, walking towards Alison. "You two are cornier than a bumper sticker."
Alison rolled her eyes dryly at him, bypassing him to the dining room.
He turned around, laughing harder, "Was it something I said?"
XXXXX
The loud screeching sound of the alarm clock that rested on the bedside table rang through Emily's ears, practically startling her from her sleep.
She sat up slowly, the chilly air hitting her skin the second the blankets dropped to her lap. Realizing it was merely the stupid alarm, she grudgingly laid back down on the bed, snuggling into her warm blanket. She cursed the fact that her alarm clock was ridiculously loud, reaching out a hand and quickly disarming it, thus, effectively stopping the hole that was slowly being drilled into her head by the blazing sound.
She couldn't let that ruin her morning. When she had talked to Alison on the phone the previous night, she had offered spontaneously to pick up her girlfriend to school. She still couldn't drive her brand new car without an adult present, and well, her mother was busy, she couldn't really ask her dad to get in the car just so she could drive Alison. She was still practicing her driving abilities in the afternoons though, when she wasn't working or swimming or hanging out with her friends.
She had set up her alarm clock early because she wanted to stop somewhere before going to Ali's house. She jumped out of bed only a bit clumsily, and got into the bathroom to start her preparation for the day.
When she was washed and brushed and ready, she exited her house and headed up the street - going in the opposite direction of Alison's house.
Twenty minutes later, after she had come back from her mysterious first destination, she was standing on the DiLaurentis' front porch, fisting her hand to knock lightly. A slightly sleepy, yet still gorgeous Alison opened the door for her, a loving grin on her face and a purse slung over her shoulder.
"Hey, Em," Alison stepped forward, kissing the brunette lightly on the lips while blindly closing the door behind her.
She backed away, and only then noticed the container of two cups in Emily's hand.
"Coffee?" she asked, pointing at it.
"Hot chocolate," Emily corrected with a chuckle as Alison grabbed one cup and examined it closely. "I know how you sometimes skip breakfast because you don't have time. And that's not healthy."
"You went out of your way to get me hot chocolate?" the blonde asked with an affectionate smile, ducking her head slightly at Emily's sweet look.
"Well, I got one for me too, so..." Emily trailed off in amusement, then laughed when Alison gently shoved at her shoulder.
"Em, that's so sweet. Thank you," the blonde said good-naturally with a small grin, grabbing Emily's hand with her free one, while taking a sip and walking down the stairs of her porch. She moaned lightly as the sweet taste hit her taste buds. The Brew staff could really make their hot chocolates, alright.
Emily, who had been looking away, nearly choked as the sultry sound made its way to her ears, and her hand tightened around the container which was currently occupied by one cup. Alison naively glanced over to her, "What?"
Emily fumbled with the container, feeling like an idiot, "N-Nothing."
Alison frowned lightly for a moment, trying to think back on what she could've possibly done in the last minute to make Emily's face look suddenly flustered.
Then she smirked in realization, "Oh."
"Oh?"
Her voice lowered into a raspy tone, "If you wanted me to moan, you could've just asked." Emily gulped, caught. "Or you could've done that amazing thing you do with your hand-"
"Ali," Emily groaned as if they were surrounded by people, which they weren't. "It's 8 AM."
"What's the matter, Em? I can't praise my girlfriend's incredible limbs and how they make me feel good?"
Emily pulled out the cup and threw the container into a nearby trashcan, then slipped her hand back into Alison's. "I guess you can," Emily uttered around the lid of her cup.
Alison turned just in time to catch the small, almost shy smirk of satisfaction forming on Emily's face, knowing her girlfriend appreciated her compliments, even they did make her blush more often than not.
Emily cleared her throat subtly, "Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. I'd never thought I'd be the kind of girl to actually enjoy Homecoming, but you made it so much better." The brunette's timid, enthusiastic blabbering melted Alison's heart on the spot and her face broke into a silly grin.
The blonde took another large sip, savoring the taste, then turned to look at Emily. "You know, Em, for a big, tough jock, you really are adorable."
Alison noticed how Emily's face constricted into a small frown for a second at the word tough, as though she'd never imagined someone using that adjective to describe her, which only proved Alison's point even further.
Eventually, Emily gave Alison's hand a squeeze as they saw their school come into view.
They were walking across the parking lot, drinking the very last sips of their delicious hot beverages, when Emily quipped up, "Oh, by the way, this morning when I got to The Brew, I saw Lucas and Danielle holding hands over a cup of coffee. They've got you to thank for that."
Alison's face lit up. "Really?" she asked, feeling proud and satisfied of herself for finally doing something to make Lucas believe she truly wasn't the she-devil he thought she was.
When Emily confirmed happily, Alison sighed in contentment. She smiled a moment later, "Well, I'm glad."
They entered their school, dropping their now-empty cups into a nearby trash can on their way to their lockers.
Just then, they saw Lucas and Danielle walking down the hall, chatting animatedly, all smiles and giggles.
Emily and Alison shared a look of affection, like they had just seen a pack of small puppies and felt the urge to croon them and say "aww".
When the two walked passed Emily and Alison, Lucas even went as far as to give Alison a small, tentative smile, and the blonde grinned back victoriously at the sight of one of the biggest targets of her past tormenting finally getting his life together.
XXXXX
"Ugh, would you look at that dress?" Mona grimaced uncomfortably, nodding her head at the mannequin in a nearby clothing store.
Hanna scrunched up her nose, "Gross. Definitely not the right colors."
"I know right, so 2006. It's almost barbaric," Mona rolled her eyes wickedly, making Hanna chuckle as she adjusted the several of bags on her forearm.
Hanna had grown very fond of her newfound friendship with the sassy girl, who was, incidentally, the same girl who used to let people stomp all over her. Now, Mona had become the girl she had always wanted to be - a girl with friends and a boyfriend and well-deserved new popularity.
She looked out at the second floor of the Rosewood Mall, and up ahead, next to the food court, she surprisingly spotted Alison and Emily. She nudged Mona's shoulder lightly, and when the girl looked at her in confusion, she shot a look at her two friends, making Mona gaze in their direction also.
They watched as Alison almost-childishly skipped to stand in front of a grinning Emily, who rolled her eyes fondly at whatever the blonde was saying. Alison chatted animatedly, and Emily watched on with an amused smile. They really were a pleasing pair to look at.
"Ali wasn't always this carefree, you know?" Hanna remarked with a wistful sigh, not removing her eyes from the two.
"You're forgetting you're talking to the girl who was bullied by her, sweetie," Mona said with a sad smile.
"She's changed," Hanna argued, feeling very protective of her blonde friend, the same one who had been her destroyer in the past, yet the same one who had also pieced her back together.
"I know she has. Being friends with her is so surreal," Mona said flippantly, looping her arm with Hanna's as they began to walk towards the couple.
"Tell me about it, took me months to get used to that fact back in eight grade," Hanna mumbled as they got closer. "Hey, guys!" she greeted warmly.
Alison turned around to face them, "Hey!" She stopped in shock right in front of Mona. "Is that new?" she asked, pointing at her gorgeous, and obviously, refined and never-used-before stylish top.
Mona nodded proudly, "Yeah, just bought it."
"It looks so good, I want one of those too." Alison complimented in a friendly manner. "Where did you get it?"
"What? No, not another store," Emily whined, already carrying as much bags as Alison was.
"Em, just one more, please?"
Emily still didn't look convinced so the blonde made a quick decision and approached her, rising slightly on her tiptoes to whisper in Emily's ear so the others won't hear, "I'll make it worth your while."
Emily swallowed with a bit of difficulty, looking anywhere but Hanna and Mona, who were looking at her with interest. Then, she huffed at herself as Alison backed away from her. "Fine," she grumbled.
"Okay, what did you say to her? I have to try that on Caleb sometime," Hanna stated, incredulously impressed.
"No can do, Han. It's top-secret," Alison winked playfully at the two girls, then laced her fingers with Emily's as they walked away after saying smiley goodbyes.
Not longer than twenty minutes later, Emily groaned regretfully as they entered the changing area of yet another clothing store, a few of Alison's choices in the blonde's hand. Maybe she really was whipped.
But, Emily thought, Alison had promised to make it worth her while, and something in the blonde's tone had made her shiver in anticipation for what was to come. In the meantime, though, she waited outside in front of her girlfriend's booth.
Alison looked around as she intentionally entered the very last changing stall in the long row of stalls, placing her bags neatly on the shiny floor of the spacious area. She turned to the mirror, fixing her hair even though absolutely no strand was out of place. Then she turned and opened the door slightly, mischievously peeking her head through the gap. Emily was with her back to her, putting the rest of their bags on the ground. When she was done with the action, the blonde smirked sinfully and reached out a hand, yanking Emily into the stall.
Emily gasped at the abrupt movement, and winced slightly when she was pushed back against the wooden stall door. The almost-nonexistent pain went away as soon as it came as she watched the infamous lustful expression taking over Alison's face as the blonde's eyes scanned her body, stopping on the slightly visible hickey that she had given Emily recently. The brunette had covered it with makeup, but now that they were up close, Alison could clearly make out the mark, and the memories flooded in faster than she could admit. At that, the blonde looked flushed and hungry, and she involuntarily nipped at her bottom lip as she continued to eye the rest of Emily's toned body, unfortunately hidden under the clothes that Alison so badly wanted to rip off.
She came closer, rising on her toes to lean into Emily, whispering against the side of the brunette's face, "Why are you so surprised, Em? I told you I'd make it worth your while. And I like to keep my word."
"I wasn't entirely sure if you were serious about that or not," Emily breathed out, her voice becoming limited against her own will, but she couldn't help Alison's effect on her.
The throatly chuckle that escaped Alison's lips made its way into Emily's ear, simultaneously shooting down to her core and making the brunette's knees go weaker than she'd ever thought was possible. Emily was faintly aware of the fact that her chest was mildly heaving, and every time she inhaled, her chest would brush against Alison's. It was a good thing that the contact was so gentle, because she really wasn't sure she could handle any more right now as she felt the heat pooling between her thighs.
"When am I ever not serious?"
Alison response was delivered in such a steamy tone, that Emily felt the urge to peek outside the door just to make sure nobody was eavesdropping, but yet again, she couldn't bring herself to move an inch from this delicious position, being pressed up against her girlfriend in the best way possible.
Emily's hands landed then on Alison's hips with such familiar ease, it made the blonde inch even closer to her, as if that was probable. With Alison's mouth hovering in the crook of Emily's neck and her fingernails running up and down Emily's arms as if to create more goosebumps than the current amount, the blonde placed a kiss on Emily's pulse point and the brunette shivered at once. Her hands gripped tighter at Alison's waist then moved to the small of her back as the blonde took the quickening of Emily's pulse as a good sign and continued to lay out kisses up and down the column of her neck, this time more powerfully.
One of Alison's hands moved smoothly to grip the back of Emily's neck to keep her in place and the brunette felt the hairs there rising as tingles began forming on her arm due to the constant movement of Alison's hand up and down. The blonde sucked on the tender skin, then bit down on it, listening to Emily whimper, and finally, licked the same spot to soften the pain. Alison continued with that circle, and somehow, listening to Emily's hastening breaths and whimpers wasn't enough. She apprehended that the brunette was keeping quiet because, well, they were in public, in a semi-popular clothing store to be exact, but she still knew that her mermaid was surprisingly loud in bed. She absolutely loved the side Emily showed only her, the side that moaned and sometimes even cussed when Alison was making love to her or even just nipping at her neck like she was now, and she wished more than anything that she could hear it again.
"Em," she let out breathlessly against Emily's neck, and when that didn't get an answer, a coherent one at least, she moved up, kissing Emily's jaw and finally placing a few kisses on her burning cheeks. "Emily."
"W-What?" the stuttering girl's eyes were closed lightly, like she was in some sort of a daze, and with her response barely audible, Alison quirked an eyebrow in amusement.
"You can be louder, you know," Alison informed her, nipping at her earlobe, "I like hearing you."
"I really can't, considering everything," Emily croaked out, her eyes still closed as she bit her lip, not thinking she would ever find herself so turned on at the freaking mall.
A loud banging on the door sent them flying away from each other at the drop of a hat. Alison found herself exhaling just as heavy as Emily when a timid voice came from the other side of the door, muffled by the thick wooden material, "Excuse me, ladies?"
Alison was pleased to find that Emily's face hadn't flushed in embarrassment, but rather mirrored hers, and it showed frustration. Sexual frustration.
Emily detached from the door as Alison opened it ajar then shoved the door open to display her and Emily as she huffed right in the sales agent's face. "What?" she growled lowly.
The poor sales agent resisted the urge to take a terrified step back at Alison's outburst, instead opting it for clasping her hands separately on her hips, trying to convey that she was working for this store and that they should listen to her. Alison was familiar with this small trick, having used it to show her dominance many times at school. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at her.
"Two people are not allowed in the same stall at the same time," the stranger said confidently.
"Why?"
Emily nervously rubbed her lips together at Alison's biting tone of irritation, but she knew the blonde was just annoyed at having their moment cut short.
"Store policy, ma'am," another worker appeared by the other sales agent's side, this one looking not the slightest bit scared of Alison's near-to-fury expression, like she was used to dealing with costumers like Alison every day. "Plus, there are little kids here."
"Screw store policy," Alison hissed as she looked them right in the eye. "And there is literally no one in sight. This is just because we're two girls and the manager that sent you is a dick."
Upon the suddenly guilty looks the co-workers exchanged, she knew she was right. She had known this store's manager briefly, he tended to go to the same church as her family. He despised homosexuality and anything of the sort, she remembered clearly from a few times that her parents had chatted with him after the ceremony on Sunday, a few times when she had actually gone to church. He probably didn't know it was her in that stall - the youngest member of the wealthy and influential DiLaurntis family - when he had sent his two employees to separate them, but even though he knew her parents, she didn't think he would change his mind about his decision.
She turned to Emily, her face and voice softening miraculously, "Come on, Em," she turned back to look at the workers in disdain, "I don't think I'm going to be buying these clothes with my unlimited credit card, after all."
Emily's face fell in sorrow due to the fact that they had been once again, called out for their relationship. She really hated it when people ruined happy moments between her and Alison because of their narrow-minded hatred. It wasn't like they were even being seen kissing just now or like they were actually loud, because they weren't.
She followed Alison out of the store with the bags in her hands. Alison stopped half-way out, near the registers area where loads of people were standing in line (the store was having a huge sale and people preferred not to dwell in the changing stalls, instead going in-and-out, picking out clothes they liked in their size and paying quickly). She tugged on Emily's arm, 'whispering' loudly and dramatically with an exaggerated gasp, "I'm pretty sure I saw a few rats in the corner. They should really get that fixed."
The blonde walked out with the victorious sound of suspicious murmuring and collective gasps of horror.
They walked past a few stores and Alison glanced at Emily, seeing that she hadn't even cracked a smile at her joke. At the level of woe in her brown eyes, the blonde's heart cracked unhappily in her chest. She came to an abrupt halt, placing the bags in her hands on the ground and then gently taking the bags from Emily's hands and doing the same. She embraced the brunette in her arms, not being able to take any more of Emily's puppy-eyed expression.
Emily sighed, wrapping her arms around Alison's back in response. "Ali, the bags are gonna get dirty," she murmured.
"I don't care," Alison answered back softly.
The quiet sniffing sound after a few moments made her pull away, looking at Emily's watering eyes with tears threatening to spill.
"Em," she sighed sadly as Emily whimpered. The blonde cupped her cheeks gently, looking straight into the brunette's eyes with solidarity and love. "Please don't cry," she whispered, standing on her tippy toes to plant a soft kiss on Emily's forehead.
"Okay," was the only reply she got from Emily, but even that was hushed. And even though Emily answered that, the tears still spilled down her face as she closed them tightly.
Alison pulled her right back in, holding her tightly as the girl broke down silently in her arms. The blonde looked around, not giving a single care to the people around them who looked at them in confusion as they passed by. Some of them even glanced at Emily in sympathy, not knowing the context, but Alison didn't notice as the two stayed in their little bubble.
"Don't listen to them," the blonde said quietly in a determined voice, "they don't know anything. They're just bigoted and ignorant. Especially that dumb store manager."
"I know," Emily whimpered back, sniffling, "but it still hurts."
"Emily, you're the strongest person I know. And trust me, it's okay to cry sometimes, but they're not worth your tears," Alison assured, rubbing soothing circles on Emily's back. It helped, if Emily's tense body finally relaxing was any indication. The blonde pulled Emily into a kiss so gentle, it was almost as though she was afraid of breaking the brunette. She pulled away and moved a few strands of hair from Emily's face as she watched her in concern.
"I wish your only tears were happy ones."
Emily looked up into Alison's eyes, seeing the genuine honesty in her statement, and couldn't help but drop a sweet kiss on the blonde's cheek in appreciation. "Thank you, Ali," the brunette smiled weakly. "It's just hard to do sometimes."
"Em, I love you so much, and it rages me when someone hurts you," Alison shook her head lightly, wanting to burst back into that shop and literally bite people's heads off. The only thing stopping her was Emily's crest-fallen face.
Emily nodded, grabbing Alison's hand. "I know. I feel the same way when people do it to you."
The brunette sighed, wondering how their day abruptly turned from great to horrible in just a few moments. She brought her hand up to cup Alison's face, ghosting her thumb over the blonde's lips. Alison puckered her lips forward and kissed Emily's finger tenderly, and the brunette finally smiled gracefully at the gesture.
"Let's go home," Alison said, tugging on the tanned hand on her own face and pulling it to her lips, this time kissing the inside of its palm softly.
Emily only nodded, her mood lifted relatively, but not entirely. They grabbed their bags together and called a taxi to take them to Emily's house.
XXXXX
Alison leaned against the sink, staring at her reflection in the slightly dusty mirror as her shoes scratched against the linoleum floor beneath her feet. She turned her body 180 degrees and leaned her back against the sink, crossing her arms as she stared up at Emily.
"How's your arm? I'm sorry I pushed you a little into the mattress last night, I didn't realize it hurt," Alison asked in concern, reaching out and grabbing Emily's bicep.
She had failed miserably at controlling herself the previous night after she and Emily had returned from the mall. She had wanted to do something to cheer Emily up, and she'd known that although the brunette was dejected, she was even more sexually frustrated and horny. She'd known that because she had felt the exact same way, only with a side of wrathful, too. When she had pushed the pleasantly surprised brunette onto the bed and lay on top of her, she had neglected to notice that she was practically pushing Emily's left arm into the bed. It wouldn't have been that painful had the weight of both their bodies not been pressed against it, but it was. She winced a bit at the memory. Poor Emily.
"I hadn't realized that it hurt, either. I was too focused on, you know, other things," Emily hinted shyly, ducking her head as her cheeks tinted crimson. Alison smirked, seeing a flushed Emily in front of her. She sighed happily, some things never change.
"Still, I can't believe I hurt your arm while having sex, that's so embarrassing," Alison groaned as she mentally face-palmed herself.
"You hog the blanket, too."
Alison let out a surprised noise at the back of her throat and looked up the brunette as Emily simply smirked. The blonde turned around to the mirror, inspecting her gray scarf, ignoring the way her whole face flushed at her girlfriend's statement. She fluffed it lightly, trying to make it look like it didn't just come out of a wrapped bag. She had gotten it from a relative sometime last year, and hadn't worn it yet. Now she had the perfect reason.
"I cannot believe you gave me a huge hickey, Em."
"Sorry," Emily sheepishly apologized with a small grin.
She stared at Emily through the mirror, raising her eyebrow in a challenging manner, "You don't sound very sorry."
Emily looked like she pretended to think for a moment, contemplating something in her mind and humming thoughtfully. Her eyes fell back into Alison's as their gaze unwavered through their school's bathroom mirror.
"Maybe because I'm really, really not," Emily smirked devilishly and Alison's eyes lit because it was possibly the first time the brunette was using this look. And it looked good.
Emily beamed, leaning forward over Alison's shoulder and planting a kiss on her cheek. She turned and left without another word, the dramatic effect lingering. Alison stared at the door in utter shock, then broke into a shit-eating grin. This girl was going to be the death of her.
XXXXX
Emily plopped down onto the expensively cushioned white couch with a heavy sigh. Today had been long. After her conversation with Alison in the bathroom at the very beginning of the day, Emily had stepped cheerfully into her first class, buzzed from Alison's surprised expression at her sudden boldness. Unfortunately, she had discovered that Toby hadn't come to school that because he was sick, and she had missed her lab partner tremendously as the hour drug on slowly without the boy's humorous jokes and wise, observant comments.
By the time lunch rolled by, she had been informed via text by Alison that the blonde had to do a make-up test and that she couldn't come to lunch. Emily had practically pouted the whole time, even though the rest of her friends - except Toby - were still there.
And then, at the very end of the day, Mr. Fitz had informed them in English class that they were going to present their projects by the end of the week. She and Alison had already finished their paper about Great Expectations, but the thought of actually needing to present it to the entire class had made her stomach churn uncomfortably.
Now though, she watched as Spencer came back from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn in her hand. She handed it to Emily with a smile and stood in front of her. "Ready to go upstairs and watch the movie?"
Emily had no idea how she had gotten her mom to agree to have her spend the night somewhere that wasn't her house on a school night. It might've had something to do with the fact that it was Spencer, and that all of the parents pretty much trusted her to be responsible.
"Yeah," she answered half-heartedly. Upon seeing her face, Spencer frowned in sympathy. Emily shook her head lamely, "Sorry. I'm probably the worst guest ever."
Spencer was about to discard that sentence, but Emily beat her to it. "How's Toby?" the swimmer asked hopefully.
Spencer's eyes lit up the same way they always did whenever her boyfriend was mentioned. "He's feeling a lot better now. He took his medicine, and tomorrow after school, I'm going to visit him. He says he'll be back by the end of the week."
Emily nodded in relief. She gave Spencer a meaningful look, "Well, tell him he's sorely missed."
"I will," her friend responded warmly.
Soon, they took off up the stairs, heading to Spencer's room. The witty brunette didn't have a TV in her room, which had come as a surprise to Emily the first time she had ever visited the Hastings household. With all of those expensive things that were styled to perfection, you would think a TV in every room was pretty much mandatory. But Spencer had merely explained to her that she didn't usually have a lot of time to watch TV anyway, and that she had been using most of her energy for studying. Then, she had bitterly added something under her breath about how her parents gave away the TV that was supposed to be hers to her sister, Melissa, which had made Emily properly understand the dynamics and hierarchy of Spencer's family.
As for right now, Spencer took her laptop instead, and the two girls half-sat half-lay on the spacious bed with their backs against the headboard, the laptop placed neatly on top of the covers between them.
Halfway through the first movie, Emily's phone buzzed the pocket of her sleeping shorts and she contemplated whether to pick it up or not. She fished the phone out, looking at Spencer in question. She didn't want to seem rude by picking it up in the middle of their time hanging out. But Spencer only smiled reassuringly at her with a small nod, making Emily echo her grin as she took the call, "Hello?"
"Hey Em," Alison said distractedly through the phone. Emily heard some fumbling on the other side, then the distinct sound of Alison sighing. "I've been looking for the same t-shirt in my closet for like, ten minutes and I can't find it still. I think I left it at your place. Are you home?"
Emily side-glanced at Spencer who looked at her curiously. "Uh, no, I'm actually sleeping over at Spencer's."
Alison let out a dramatic gasp, "The Pam Fields allowed you to stay over on a school night?"
Emily laughed humorously. "It's probably because it's Spencer," she concluded.
Spencer frowned at the mention of her name, and Emily mouthed, "Later," to her, indicating that she would explain afterward.
"Hmm. Understandable," Alison murmured absentmindedly down the line, and Emily guessed she went back to fumbling through her closet. There was someone else on the other side now, and Emily heard Alison say in irritation, "What, Jason?"
Jason said something to her that Emily couldn't quite make out, but then she heard Alison huff in annoyance, "No, you can't talk to her." Emily barely heard something being said on the other side, then Alison talked again, "Because, I'm in the middle of a conversation."
Emily let out a giggle at Alison's dramatics. She heard a tumulting jumble of words being exchanged, then Jason's familiar voice, "Hey, Emily."
Somewhere behind him, she heard Alison complaining, "Jason! Give that back!"
"Hi, Jason," she answered uncertainly. She and Spencer exchanged a look and she shrugged.
"I just wanted to make sure - Ow, Ali, that hurt!" Jason cut himself off mid-sentence. A few seconds later, he reappeared with a sigh. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you tell your parents thanks for letting us over the other day. Right, Al?"
"Yeah, whatever, give me my phone back, I want to say goodnight to Emily."
Emily's heart fluttered at Alison's sentiment. She waited several more moments, then she heard Alison's sweet voice again. "Hey, sorry about that, Jason just left. Moron," Emily could practically hear Alison rolling her eyes without even needing to see her. "He's right though, tell your parents thanks from us."
Emily smiled, "Sure."
"I'll just... I'll get that shirt from you another time, okay?"
"Yeah, I can drop it off tomorrow after school if you want," Emily offered charmingly.
"Thanks, Em," Alison responded tenderly. "I'll see tomorrow at school then."
"Yeah," Emily confirmed. "Goodnight, Ali."
"Goodnight, Em. I love you."
Emily grinned sheepishly at the presence of Spencer, but replied nonetheless, "I love you, too."
She hung up the phone, turning to Spencer, "Sorry about that, I stopped you in the middle of a movie."
Spencer waved her off, "It's okay, Em. The same thing happened to me with Toby when I slept over at Hanna's house. It's a standard reaction."
They spent the night watching the remaining of the movie and talking, and they even made plans to study for their upcoming biology test together. Emily had to admit, she dearly missed the company of Spencer alone. Sure, it was great when their whole group was together, but she hadn't gotten enough time with Spencer, just the two of them. They couldn't really talk that much during biology class, after all, and she was excited to spend more time with Spencer and tighten their friendship even more.