46 - Yes/No

"This isn't funny, you're such a cheater!"

Caleb looked over with an amused grin.

"Or maybe you're just a horrible player. Ever thought of that?" Caleb offered with a humorous laugh. His hands moved out of reach easily when Emily sharply tried to pry the controller from him. His character on the screen was a fair distance ahead of hers by now, and she huffed despondently, knowing there was no way she could win the Rainbow Road race now.

Caleb's character crossed the finish line victoriously, and he turned to her with a barely smothered pleased smirk. "I am just too good at this game," he shook his head cockily, placing the controller down on the floor.

"No, you're a freaking cheater. You distracted me," Emily crossed her arms, being the sore loser she constantly refused to admit she was.

It was true. Ever since she had started swimming for The Sharks a few years ago, she'd felt the level of competitiveness and desire to win constantly rising inside of her, and although not many people usually saw that side of her outside of swim meets and sports competitions, it was still there. For example, in video games.

"Hey, it's not my fault you actually believed me when I said Ali was leaving without you," Caleb laughed, nudging Emily's shoulder.

He did have a point though, she admitted without wishing to. Why would she think the blonde would just leave the place without her and without saying goodbye? It wasn't like Alison had mentioned that she needed to be somewhere else that afternoon or anything that would trigger Emily to actually believe Caleb, but at that moment, when she'd had been extremely focused on the game at hand, she hadn't had time to process the thought before she'd turned to see if his statement was true, which caused him to seize the advantage and bypass her character easily.

The ears of one of the two blondes on the couch at the guys' apartment perked up. "What?" Alison asked innocently upon hearing her name being mentioned.

"Ignore them, they're probably talking about that boring video game," Hanna rolled her eyes from beside Alison, irritated to have her chat with the other blonde cut off.

"Wait, Ali, didn't you say you wanted to play against the winner?" Caleb inquired, puffing his chest and feeling self-pride in himself for effectively winning against the swimmer.

"I didn't say that, Em volunteered me," Alison chuckled with a pointed look at her girlfriend.

"Well, come take the controller because Em lost," Caleb said, sticking out his tongue playfully at Emily when she smacked his arm in annoyance.

"Because you're a cheater," Emily argued the third time, this time grumbling it under her breath.

Alison sauntered over to the two of them who were sitting on separate bean bags in front of the wide-screen TV. They were perfect friend material for each other, she decided humorously. As she approached, Emily offered her the controller with a pout, and the blonde couldn't help but release a small sympathetic giggle at Emily's adorableness. She plucked the controller from Emily's hand smoothly, but before Emily could move so she could sit on the bean bag herself, she took a seat in the brunette's lap, listening to her girlfriend let out a small gasp at the sudden contact. She adjusted herself comfortably as Emily warmly accepted her, wrapping her arms securely around her smaller frame.

She turned to Caleb with a daring raised eyebrow, "Ready to lose, Rivers?"

"Lose?" he feigned hurt. "Bring it on, DiLaurentis, but I don't think I'm gonna lose."

"Oh, yes you are. This just got personal, I'm defending my mermaid's honor." Alison grinned warmly in response to Emily's surprised yet proud smile. He smiled and shook his head in good nature.

Alison snuggled closer into Emily, sighing contently when the familiar smell of Emily's hair invaded her nostrils. "So," she started, "how do you play this thing?"

As Emily guided Alison through the basics of Rainbow Road - it really wasn't that complicated, Alison soon gathered - Hanna bounded over to the small group, taking a place behind her boyfriend and placing her chin on his shoulder.

Finally, Alison nodded in apprehension of the rules as she prepared herself for her dual with Caleb. She found herself liking this kind of friendly combat between her and the guy who became somewhat of a brother to her ever since they'd all traveled to Paris, especially when it meant sticking up for Emily.

The blonde had always been extremely competitive, but she didn't know if it was the result of growing up in the DiLaurentis home or simply because she turned into liking it, seeing as many people had tried over the years to steal her role as Queen Bee and she'd had to prove her place, kicking off every single one of her 'competition'.

As soon as the race started, she found it utterly difficult to concentrate since Emily kept planting soft and encouraging kisses on the back of her neck every now and then, and she didn't know if she should allow Emily to continue doing so, simply because of the amazing feeling it caused, or if she should put all of her energy on winning this dumb animated race. Finally, she powered through with great obstinacy, somehow blocking out the warmth of Emily's lips on her skin. She knew it was worth it for winning this race for the brunette. Somehow anything and everything in her life became about Emily, but Alison wouldn't have it any other way.

Caleb's character was currently leading up on hers, but she mischievously noticed out of the corner of her eye that he was starting to get quite fidgety and distracted by Hanna, who was drawing patterns on his shoulder with her finger. Alison silently thanked her, and she caught herself before giggling when Caleb's eyes nearly closed at the sensation before he remembered his place and focused back on the screen with a clearing of his throat, still slightly out of order. She took her opportunity as her character advanced and went around his, becoming first place in their race.

It was getting close to the finish line and Alison bit her lip in concentration, making sure her character stayed ahead of his. She was feeling quite proud of herself because Caleb had obviously played this game before, but this was merely her first time.

She could see the finish line clearly now, and with no one blocking her view as Caleb's character stayed behind, she passed the designated line, throwing her fist in the air a little as she cheered for herself.

Emily applauded as well, and Alison found herself laughing at the adorable way the brunette leaned forward to kiss her cheek happily.

Caleb grumbled, discovering that he was as every bit of a sore loser as Emily was. Alison turned to him with a smug smirk, "Told you so."

"Nice match, Ali," he held out his hand for her to shake. When she mimicked his position, he leaned forward quickly, playfully grabbing her phone that was in her lap in his hand.

They were both on their feet in an instant, Hanna and Emily following closely. Alison laughed lightly when Caleb hid it behind his back, running away and avoiding her when she charged at him.

"Caleb!" she protested, but couldn't keep her grin off of her face at his infamous childish behavior.

He looked around, his eyes landing on his girlfriend. "Catch!" he threw the phone out to her and she caught it easily. They were both taller than Alison- well, Caleb was, and Hanna was pretty much the same height as her, but Alison had taken her shoes off when she'd gotten there and Hanna hadn't, making her slightly taller.

She didn't mind their playful teasing at all, until her phone started ringing, and she recognized the ringtone as the one she'd set for Jason. She knew it was probably something important he was calling about because her brother would usually just send a text whenever it was anything casual.

"Guys, give it back, seriously," Alison rolled her eyes, fed up with their little game.

Hanna whined and bickered when she felt the phone being gently snatched away from her hand, and she turned to see Emily with a raised eyebrow. The brunette tossed it easily to her girlfriend, and Alison smiled gratefully at her, leaving the room to take the call.

"What? It was Jason's ringtone, it's probably about work," Emily answered plainly in response to Hanna and Caleb's unasked question when they stared at her expectantly.

Hanna's expression turned from surprised to slightly disturbed at that. "How do you know Jason's ringtone?" the bubbly blonde asked.

"Because he called his sister more than once in his life and I happened to be there one of those times?" Emily replied as if it was simply obvious.

Hanna quickly smirked. "Stalking your own girlfriend, Em? I never pegged you for the kinky type," she finished with a cheeky wink for emphasis.

Emily rolled her eyes, "I'm not-"

"Hey, I kind of have to go, Jason needs my help at the office right now. Apparently, many people actually buy and rent houses here that often," Alison waltzed in, joking.

"Aww, but it's Sunday!" Hanna groaned in disappointment.

"Sorry, guys," Alison shrugged, because what could she really do?

"You want me to come with you?" Emily asked from behind Hanna, looking at her girlfriend who was standing at the doorway of the short hall leading to the bathroom.

"No, babe, it's okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Alison smiled warmly at her girlfriend, moving to gather her things.

Emily nodded, taking a place on the couch along with Caleb and Hanna. When Alison was done slipping her shoes on, she walked over to the back of the couch, and Emily caught her intention, her head leaning back just in time for Alison to bend down and kiss her sweetly on her lips.

"Bye," Alison called out with a smile, and next thing she was closing the door behind her as she rushed over to the elevator.

Hanna turned excitedly to her brunette best friend, "Wait, I can't believe I forgot to tell you!"

Emily frowned slightly, observing Hanna closely, "Tell me what?"

"Caleb asked me to homecoming!" Hanna squealed, tugging on Emily's arm and practically jumping up and down in her seat.

"Oh," Emily said with a small smile, pleasantly surprised. She ignored the tiny ache in her chest telling her Homecoming was this weekend and Alison still has yet to ask her, and she didn't know whether she needed to ask the blonde herself.

She hated to admit it, but being two girls in the relationship definitely complicated a few aspects. She let her mind drift off to thoughts about marriage proposals in the future and which one of them was going to pop the question until she caught Hanna's eye again. "That's great, Han, I'm really happy for you guys."

Hanna's smile faltered a bit, "Still nothing from Ali?" It was amazing how well she could read Emily's mind.

"No," Emily sighed sadly. "And I don't know if I should ask first, because I don't want to ruin it if she does have something planned."

"Don't worry, Em, I'm sure she'll pull through," Caleb smiled reassuringly, having full faith in the blonde.

"No, I know," Emily quickly nodded truthfully, "it's just... This night is supposed to be about having fun, and I won't do that if I'm just thinking about this kind of technical stuff all the time. And neither will Ali."

Hanna nodded, smirking a little, "Yeah, you're right. One of you needs to just grow a pair and do it."

Emily rolled her eyes once more, but she knew that, in a way, Hanna was right. Maybe it should've been rephrased differently, but she was right. It was Sunday, and until the end of the week, either her or Ali needed to just step up and do it, so they could focus on the good part of this night, which was having fun with their friends and each other.

XXXXX

Alison had always thought that being one of the vice principal's favorite students was rewarding. She was the very top of her class in multiple subjects, and people were just naturally drawn to her charm, so she assumed it was normal that even the vice-principal of their school fawned over her.

She was casually walking down the hall when vice-principal Hackett called her name and pulled her aside to talk to her. He offered her to join as an office assistant. While he was talking, trying to convince her, she was already forming sinister plans in her head. She agreed almost immediately, and he was thrilled to have her on board.

In their school, only selected students got to be office assistants. Like it was some privilege, Alison snickered sarcastically. Usually, it was only seniors and juniors, and she was truly glad to be the only sophomore there.

Her day dragged on, and by the time she needed to go to the office, she tried calculating in her head where Emily was supposed to be at this time. She remembered then that the brunette had an AP Biology class with Spencer, the two of them being the only sophomores in that class, since the course was so hard. God, her girlfriend was so smart. And Spencer was a Hastings genius, as usual.

She headed to their class with a devilish smirk plastered on her face and a plan ready to be executed in her mind, and knocked on the door, waiting to be invited in.

Finally, the teacher's loud voice rang through the door with an annoyed tone at being interfered in the middle of his lecture, "Yes?"

She opened the door, trying to appear polite in front of the teacher, especially knowing what she was going to do. "Hi, I have a note from vice-principal Hackett, he says he needs to see Emily Fields in his office."

She internally laughed when the teacher dismissed Emily with a wave of his beefy hand. Knowing this teacher, he didn't even check for a note, since he was eager to get back to his lecture without being interrupted yet again. Emily looked every bit as confused as Spencer who sat beside her. She exchanged a look with her fellow brunette, then got up, heading for the door.

Alison noticed that her hands were clutching and unclutching by her sides, and she suddenly felt a bit bad. Emily was nervous, she thought she had actually done something wrong to deserve a punishment. The blonde wanted to hug the cute pout off of Emily's face before her girlfriend thought she was really in trouble. Before Emily was out the door, she reached out and grabbed the brunette's hand, leading her out the doorway and assuring her with the gesture that nothing was going on other than her own evil plan.

As soon as the door was closed, Emily let out a gasp as her whole weight was suddenly pushed against it.

"You didn't actually think you were in trouble, did you, mermaid?" Alison asked in concern, but Emily couldn't center on anything that blonde was saying as her girlfriend edged closer, allowing her body to trap Emily's between it and the wooden door. Alison secretly thanked god that the small window on the door was on the high left corner, so that neither of them were tall enough for anyone from the inside to be able to see them.

Emily stammered, "I, uh-"

Her thoughts were cut off when Alison connected their lips hungrily, pushing herself deliciously against the brunette. Emily's instantly responded, feeling her senses swirling as her arms flew on their own accord around Alison's waist. The blonde's hand cupped the back of her neck, and Emily decided that this was it - the best feeling in the world. She wished every single day could be like this, and she longed for every class to be interrupted by the blonde just so they could do this. Thoughts about DNA analysis and cell transformation were completely out of her mind at this point.

She was drawn back from her thoughts as Alison's tongue entered her mouth, and she didn't feel the slightest bit invaded. Instead, she welcomed it, opening the gap between her lips and their tongues met. She moaned quickly, feeling dizzy already as her hands lowered down Alison's body, ending up on the blonde's ass as she pulled her closer, exchanging heated kisses. When Emily experimentally squeezed and Alison tugged on Emily's bottom lip with her teeth in response, they both whimpered, but it was Alison who wrapped her arms around Emily's neck, kissing her like her life depended on it.

They stayed like this for who knows how long, but Emily knew her teacher would start to suspect soon, and the first thing he was going to see once he opened the door was the two of them pressed against it. So, she gently pried Alison off of her by the shoulders. "We're going to get caught," she breathed out against the blonde's lips.

"Em," Alison whined, wanting her girlfriend's talented lips on hers again.

Emily melted into a puddle when the blonde nudged their noses together, clearly wanting to get back to kissing her. But she found her mind again, gently pushing Alison back, "Sorry, Ali."

Alison nodded breathlessly, trying miserably to hide her disappointment, "Yeah, no, you're right."

She stood straight and took a step back. They stood silently together for a moment and Alison sighed, leaning forward to give Emily one more final kiss. "Go back to class, beautiful," she whispered.

Alison pulled herself away slowly, giving Emily an affectionate smile, which the brunette shyly returned. Involuntarily, Emily's fingers found her lips where Alison kissed her a moment ago, and she sighed wistfully while watching the blonde start down the hallway, wishing school was over so she could go back to kissing Alison. She gulped, dropping her hand and opening the door to re-enter the class. Not meeting the teacher's gaze as if he had some super ability to know when his students were being untruthful, she took a seat at her joint desk with Spencer.

Spencer only needed one look at Emily's flushed face to know she didn't go to the principal's office, and she stifled her smug face by burying her face in her book and letting out a small head shake. What was she going to do with these two?

XXXXX

That night, thoughts about Homecoming filled Emily's mind as she lay in her bed, getting ready to sleep. She still hadn't talked to Alison about it, but she was determined to start thinking about her own ideas of how to ask the blonde, because she didn't want the day of the event to come with the two of them just awkwardly going together after zero proposals, though she was certain that either way, they would go together at the end of it.

As if on cue, her phone vibrated on the bedside table just as she started listing ideas in her head. She turned to pick it up, not completely sure who would be calling her at this time. She shook her head lightly, if this was Hanna calling her again to beg her to do a Project Runway marathon with her because it was the only time they aired it, she was going to strangle the bubbly blonde. But as she picked up her phone, Alison's caller ID appeared on the screen, and she instantly turned slightly anxious. What was wrong? Was her girlfriend in trouble? Why else would she need to call her this late?

She answered it in a panicked voice, "Ali, is everything okay? Did something happen, or-"

Alison's eyes went wide at her normally-calm girlfriend's distressed voice as she babbled, "Em, I'm okay. Em, relax!"

Emily allowed herself to breathe at Alison's words. Somewhat panting, she frowned - why did the blonde call her then?

The blonde sighed, "I need you to do something for me."

Emily's panicked state returned at once. "What do you need?"

"I need you to go to your window and look down."

Emily blinked in confusion, but got up at Alison's request nonetheless and went to her curtain-covered window. She placed her phone between her cheek and shoulder as she moved the curtains aside and opened her window, leaning over her window seat and looking down at the backyard. On the ground below, laid a bouquet of red roses with a white note on it.

Emily's puzzlement lingered, "Um, Ali?"

But the blonde had hung up already. A second later her phone buzzed in her ear. She opened the text addressed from Alison:

Go down and get it. Just trust me.

Emily looked around her, maybe she was being pranked. She was tempted to pinch herself but remembered that if she was being pranked, she would probably look pretty stupid to whoever was watching.

With her eyebrow frowned, she put her phone in the pocket of her sleeping shorts and slid out the window into the chilly evening air. She knew she probably should've started to sleep in more Fall-y clothes, since it was already cold out as the nights progressed, but she'd always felt more comfortable in shorts for some reason.

She landed on the shed, then placed her leg on the small crack in the wall where Alison had shown her the other day. She settled safely on the ground a moment later, and turned to the roses with a little flurried expression. Curious, she picked up the roses and couldn't help but smile softly at them. But then she remembered the note. Flipping it open, it said:

Em,

Follow the trail when you see it. There's a reward at the end ;)

xo

-Ali

Emily looked around looking for said trail. Not far away from her, lay a single white rose neatly on the ground. She walked to it, picking it up and bringing it to the tip of her nose. It smelled divine; the fresh aroma of a rose, and something else, something distinctly... Alison.

She smiled miraculously at Alison's romantic gesture, but she couldn't pinpoint why the blonde would just leave roses on the ground for her. Then, she remembered that those roses were a trail that led to a reward. She silently wondered what kind of reward Alison meant as she advanced forward, trying to find another rose.

The next rose was yellow, and she could clearly see she was being led to the gate in the backyard, the one that was used as an exit out to the street. She gathered it in her hand along with the white rose, her other hand still holding the bouquet of red roses.

She shivered as she advanced on, regretting not taking a sweatshirt in the spur of the time she had before slipping out of the window. The next few roses were all different colors; pink, orange, red again, then white again.

She got out onto the street, and just then, a breeze went by and hit her body harder than she'd anticipated, and she shivered as she looked around. She glanced ahead for another rose, but she couldn't find one.

Then she heard a throat clearing gently behind her.

"Em?"

She turned around, startled, to find Alison coming out behind a tree and standing on the asphalt road in front of her house, dressed in a red dress that practically made Emily's jaw drop. The fabric hugged her body in all the right places, it long enough to be considered conservative, but cut around mid-thigh, short enough to be a tease.

In fact, she was so focused on the dress that she didn't even notice what had been placed on the road.

Alison clamped her own hands behind her back, smiling shyly at Emily's awe-filled look of anticipation. "So...what do you say?"

Emily watched Alison's lips as they moved, her eyes working tirelessly to take in the blonde's beauty. "What?" she mumbled weakly, not comprehending what Alison was saying to her.

"About Homecoming."

Upon hearing the word that had passed carelessly through her mind in the past 24 hours, she lifted her gaze to Alison's slightly nervous eyes.

"What about Homecoming?" Emily asked uncertainly.

Alison actually giggled a little, nodding her head to the asphalt road under her. Emily allowed her eyes to move to the ground, but not before doing an appreciative sweep on Alison's body. She really did have the best girlfriend ever.

Her eyes landed on candles, plenty of them, actually. She could make the letters 'm', 'e', 'c' and 'o', and she walked backwards a little to try and see the whole image. 'Homecoming?' was the question that was formed using the candles, and Emily found herself wondering briefly if Hanna had told Alison something about what she'd said the previous day at the guys' Ravenswood apartment. It was also a possibility that Alison had come up with all of this herself, and the blonde had been so romantic ever since the beginning of their relationship, that Emily knew that it was a very likely possibility.

Alison anxiously bit her lip waiting for an answer. Deep down, she knew Emily would say yes even if she asked her inside a dumpster and gave her a banana peel instead of roses and candles, but she wanted to hear her say it herself, wanted to hear her say yes.

The blonde lifted her gaze to find Emily beaming, looking at her with eyes filled with such ferocious love and endless adoration, and Alison already knew the answer before Emily said it.

Emily nodded hastily, "Of course I'll go with you to Homecoming, Ali."

Alison felt her heart swelling interminably at those words, along with a feeling of self-pride at the idea that had come to her mind a while ago, when she'd first thought about Homecoming. She'd known Emily was wondering about it, about which one of them would ask the other and when it would happen, because she could see the look of confliction on Emily's face whenever someone mentioned the subject in public. The brunette had never been very good at hiding her feelings, she concluded. She could tell Emily had been silently debating whether to ask her or not, and she figured Emily would appreciate being 'off the hook' in a way.

Alison went around the candles carefully, wrapping Emily in a hug that showed her she wanted this more than anything. Emily hugged her tightly right back, feeling no more chilliness, parting away slightly for Alison to grab the sides of her face in both her hands and kiss her gently.

The blonde smiled at her girlfriend, moving her hand tenderly to safely tuck a brown strand of hair behind Emily's ear, making the girl close her eyes contently. Alison pulled her right back into the caring hug, already thinking about how the two of them should invite the other girls with them to buy outfits together. She was making some ideas about dresses in her head, maybe some lilac, she thought, when suddenly she felt a small, yet sharp pain in her back.

"Em," she croaked out gently.

"Hmm?"

She sounded so peaceful.

"The roses, their thorns are stabbing my back," she tried to say it nonchalantly despite the pointed pain, hoping Emily wouldn't freak out and go all doctor-mode on her. Although, she did love when the brunette did that.

It didn't matter, her hope was short-lived as Emily backed away from her at the speed of lightning, rushing to put the roses lightly on the ground, and then going to Alison's other side, examining her back nervously. Alison rolled her eyes in good nature, loving how this was what they were doing at midnight in the middle of the street. She could already see their future neighbors filing reports and ranting about how noisy they were, but the blonde couldn't care for their requests the slightest bit, as long as the two of them were happy.