45 - Every Day

A/n: I don't know if it's just me, but the Emison kiss in the latest episode left me officially dead! They're so Endgame 💕 apparently they're supposed to hook up on 7x18, too 😏

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A few hours of chatting, eating and sharing stories later, they were all wiped out and exhausted as they put the fire out and split up to go to their tents. They all got ready for bed, brushing their teeth outside the tent with bottled water, toothpaste and a brush, agreeing that hygiene was necessary, even while camping. Once they were all done, Emily waved goodbye to Hanna for the time being and got into the tent, where Alison was already set up.

Inside, Emily and Alison crawled into their sleeping bags, instinctively turning to face each other.

Emily's nose scrunched up lightly, "This isn't right."

Alison frowned at her, "What isn't?"

Alison never got her answer though, and Emily merely opened the zipper on the side of her sleeping bag, then did the same for Alison's and inched forward, connecting their two sleeping bags into a single bigger one. She wrapped her arms warmly around Alison and the blonde let out a small sigh of ease, wrapping her arms around Emily's neck and pulling her as close as humanly possible.

Alison inhaled a bit at the base of Emily's neck. "You smell so good," she commented softly, "even after a day of camping. You just always do."

The blonde felt a shiver down her spine when Emily giggled lightly, "And I love your perfume. It smells like vanilla."

"Nice assessment, captain obvious. The perfume's called 'Vanilla'." Alison's sarcasm was felt but it was said in a playful manner, and Emily could hear Alison's smile in her voice.

"Nice pleasantness, Care Bear," Emily retorted back light-heartedly. "Ow!" she pouted when Alison lightly slapped her back.

"That response wasn't necessary," Alison chuckled playfully. She pulled away a bit and kissed the pout out of Emily's lips.

Emily drew away and raised her eyebrow, going as far as plastering a smirk on her face at the previous statement, "You're not the boss of me."

Alison bit her lip, feeling her throat tightening as she swallowed. "That was hot, Em," she giggled breathlessly. The brunette laughed silently, shaking her head.

A rustling in the bushes outside the tent effectively stopped their conversation, slightly pulling them apart as their gazes turned to the side of the tent that was closest to the direction of the rumble.

"What was that?" Emily asked nervously. Out of the five girls, the brunette wasn't really the one to get easily scared over nothing. Neither were Alison and Spencer, who had both adapted a thick skin and a nonchalant approach in their lives, while Hanna and Aria could freak out over the smallest things. But at that moment, the sound was way too close for Emily's liking and the brunette could admit she was spooked.

"It's nothing, Em, relax," Alison soothed, already turning to kiss the brunette's addictive lips, slipping her tongue into the girl's mouth as Emily let out a small moan at the gesture, pulling her girlfriend closer. Alison parted away, shifting plant soft kisses on Emily's neck, causing goosebumps to form on the girl's skin.

And Emily almost did. She leaned into Alison's touch just barely before there was another sound, this time closer and louder. Now, even Alison was a little startled as she pulled away from Emily and they shared a suspicious look.

"Where are you going?" Emily freaked out quietly when Alison made a move to get up.

"To sacrifice myself to the wolves," the blonde answered sarcastically and Emily's eyes comically widened, making her laugh gently. "Relax, would you, I'm just going to see what's out there."

Emily rose to her feet quickly as well and Alison looked at her quizzically. "What? If you're going to sacrifice yourself to the wolves, I have to at least know where. So I can make a proper grave and all," the brunette joked despite the situation, merely to see the look on her girlfriend's face.

"Dork," Alison rolled her eyes playfully as she pushed her girlfriend's shoulder easily.

They cautiously exited the tent together, looking around in every direction, afraid something might pounce on them. When the sound reoccured, Alison found herself searching Emily's hand in the darkness. Out of pure instinct, Emily reached out and grabbed the blonde's hand tightly, making sure the girl knew she was there.

They took a few tentative steps, their bare feet touching the grassy ground that they were already familiar with. The feel of the softness on the bottom of their feet would have been nice at any other situation, but right now, they were both more than a bit fearful and didn't even notice they were walking around with no shoes on. As expected, the rustle came back, and they turned swiftly to the source.

Approaching the bushes at a significantly slow pace, they swallowed hard as they looked around to see none of their friends in sight, probably all asleep in their tents at this point. The moonlight shimmered above their heads but it was still very dark out, and they didn't have it in their right minds to take a flashlight or a phone with them when they'd exited the tent.

Taking a deep breath, Emily squeezed Alison's hand and they walked around the bushes to where the sound came from.

Once they finally saw what had made the noise, Alison didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or cry.

"Oh, God," Emily's eyes were as wide as dinner plates at the sight of their friends, Aria and Ezra, on the ground in a very stare-worthy position, with Ezra - shirtless - lying on top of Aria, who was resting on a thin blanket, both passionately invested in a make-out session.

They seemed to notice the two girls' presence fast enough, and they pounced away from each other and stood up quickly. Both Ezra and Aria's wide eyes and dropped jaws revealed that they weren't nearly ready for this kind of situation at all. They couldn't find the strength to speak, only to stare at two of their best friends in complete and utter shock.

Finally, Alison spoke. "Excuse me, Em," she said, not taking her eyes off Ezra and Aria, "I'm going to go wash my eyes with bleach."

Emily found the power not to roll her eyes as she grabbed Alison's hand that had previously escaped from her own and held it in place, forcing the blonde to stay in her spot, taking in this awkward moment along with her.

"I... This is the most embarrassing moment I've ever had in my life, Aria," Ezra spoke for the first time, both his and his girlfriend's cheeks filling themselves with red.

Emily silently disagreed when it came to the statement. She thought it could've gone way worse; they could have been naked when Alison and her caught them. It certainly seemed like it was going in that direction.

"No, wait, we shouldn't be this flustered. It wasn't like we didn't catch you two in more provocative positions before," Aria stated breathlessly.

"If you're talking about that one time you, Spencer and Hanna walked in on us after we slept together, that was you deciding to walk in on us. Willingly. This, right here, is the last thing I'd ever willingly want to do, trust me," Alison retorted. "I still don't get it, though. Why didn't you decide to do this in your tent? Like normal people?" she crossed her arms.

"Well, we were," Aria started, looking more abashed than ever, "but it wasn't even close to comfortable, and Ezra offered that we should go out here, instead."

"And you didn't happen to notice that our tent was like, two feet away?"

"We're sorry!" Ezra spoke defensively, looking equally as flabbergasted and sheepish. "It was too dark to see," he admitted quietly.

The truth was that he and Aria both hadn't taken a phone or flashlight, either, afraid it would "kill their mood" or whatnot. They sincerely didn't know where Alison and Emily's tent was, and especially not how extremely close it was to where they'd wanted to continue what they'd stopped at their tent due to discomfort.

Emily sighed, "Okay. Let's just forget this happened for all our sakes, alright?"

A chorus of agreeing 'yeah's was thankfully heard and they awkwardly moved to disperse to their tents. Alison felt bad though, so she turned around quickly. "Don't let us ruin what you have planned, just, do it somewhere else," she said to them, Emily nodding in consent. "Please," she added in a fake-desperate voice, hoping playfulness would relieve some of the perplexing tension in the air.

Aria gave her a half-smile, "Okay. Sorry again for that. Good night, guys."

"Good night," they answered back, waving goodbye to both her and Ezra.

XXXXX

"Ali. Ali, wake up. ALI," Emily was afraid she might be talking rather loudly and didn't want to wake her friends at 5:30 AM, but it wasn't her fault that Alison refused to open her eyes. The blonde turned over in her sleep, groaning slightly, but didn't wake up.

Finally, Emily shook her head desperately and bit her lip nervously. "Alison Lauren DiLaurentis, wake up right now, Emily's giving birth and you're missing it!"

The effect was instant; Alison shook out of her sleep faster than she could say Emily's name. The brunette knew it was a low blow, but she couldn't help but snicker a little bit when Alison jolted and quickly sat up, wide-eyed.

"Where's Pepe?" Alison asked breathlessly, still in a daze.

Emily looked at her in exasperation, "Seriously? I'm about to give birth and you're thinking about the freaking dog?"

"He should be there to see it," the blonde shrugged lightly.

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, you shouldn't have woken me up, you jerk," Alison murmured, hitting Emily's thigh with a feather-light smack, her head falling back down in hopes to get more sleep.

"No, don't fall asleep again," Emily whined playfully.

Alison was already half-asleep at this point. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"Because I'm bored."

"Go play with Pepe."

"Pepe doesn't exist yet!"

"Excuses, excuses," Alison mumbled sleepily, turning to face Emily and finally opening her eyes.

Emily felt a prickle of hope suddenly as blue eyes found her own. "There's a free boat service down the lakeshore and we're all supposed to leave once everybody wakes up, you know, because of the long ride and everything. But I really want to rent one of those boats, Ali," in response, the blonde tiredly blinked at her. "Come on, Ali, don't you want to have one more thing to add to your 'camping experience'?" she finished playfully.

Alison rolled her eyes gently, shaking her head playfully against the makeshift pillow she made with Emily's sweatshirt, "Okay."

"Okay?" Emily repeated.

"You'll owe me so much for this because the sun's not even up yet, but yeah, okay. Let's take a boat," the blonde said with a small smile, causing Emily to beam at her. "But you know, as a mermaid, you're obligated to swim in the lake," Alison deadpanned.

"Come on," Emily giggled, getting Alison to her feet by taking her hands and lifting her.

They both got ready in and out of the tent, then went close by to the boat service. They put on life vests for safety, then pushed the motorboat into the water and climbed in. Alison was still a little slumberous from waking up when they began sailing along the large, beautifully deep-blue lake.

Emily took charge of the wheel and Alison gazed at her from the side, mesmerized as she watched the feel of control seeping into girlfriend's body. She couldn't even remove her eyes when Emily caught her starting.

"What?" Emily asked, bemused.

"Nothing, you just... look really good, Em. I feel like I've woken up completely when my eyes landed on you, and that's not easy to do, when I'd been extremely tired just a second before." Emily glanced at her from the corner of her eye, smiling shyly at the blonde's way with words. Alison returned the smile with interest, "It just feels good to be around you, that's all."

They rode almost silently to the middle of the lake, adoring the chilly morning air and simply knowing that the day was going to be a good once, even if half of it was spent on driving back home.

The sun took its sweet time rising for them to see, and Emily turned off the motor just in time to catch the slightly late sunrise. It was suddenly warm due to the newfound rays of light and Alison peacefully breathed in the crispy, early air. They ended up sitting on the bench in the boat for a while, each timidly in their own world until Emily broke the silence.

"So, what's the deal with you and s'mores?" she teased, nudging the other girl softly as they walked up to the railing, gripping it in their hands.

"Oh, that," Alison giggled, "it's nothing, really. It's just that Jason used to make them for me - over the stove - to make me feel better whenever we overheard our parents fighting, back when we were really little. It was happening more often than not, and little Jason was always there to catch me before I broke down and cried."

The blonde sighed to herself, feeling Emily's hand cover hers gently in sympathy. "He hasn't always been the greatest brother growing up, with his period of drugs and his caveman friends, but he definitely had his moments when we were younger. Those times when he had made me s'mores to make me feel better were some of the best memories I had of him, maybe until not too long ago. And now... now, I guess it became my favorite snack."

"I'll make you a deal. If I promise to make you s'mores every day for the rest of your life, will you marry me?" Emily joked softly.

Alison turned to her, timidly grinning at the thoughts in Emily's head, "I don't need the s'mores to marry you, Em. I would marry you in a heartbeat."

Emily smiled tenderly to herself, lacing their fingers together. "Duly noted," she said with a tiny smirk.

They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, watching as the sun settled gracefully in the morning sky, not bothering nor wanting to check the time. Given the situation, Alison was happy to say it was the first time she had ever been actually thrilled that she had been woken up at 5:30 AM.

"Ali?" Emily asked, her voice sounding small and shy, making Alison turn concerned at the particular tone.

"Yeah, Em?"

"Can I ask you something?" Emily ducked her head sheepishly, "it's kind of personal and I never really got to ask it."

Alison tilted her head in curiosity, turning to face Emily fully as the brunette did the same. Under Alison's scrutiny, Emily timidly let out a nervous laugh, shaking her head at herself. Sensing her impending discomfort, Alison grabbed her hand light-heartedly, trying to relieve Emily's tension and conveying to her that, after all this time, she had the right to ask the blonde any question she wanted. Finally, Emily gathered enough courage.

"When... when was the first time you ever thought about... kissing me?"

Alison blinked at her, "What?"

"I mean," Emily started, "when did you realize that you... that you wanted... wanted me like that?"

It must've been a good ten seconds before Alison found herself answering and in those moments, Emily felt her heartbeat increasing tremendously as she gnawed at her lip, afraid she had asked the wrong thing.

"The first time I ever thought about kissing you was when you went running at the park with your dad and you fell and scraped your knee. But then your dad helped you up and you were back on your feet, smiling like a little kid. Like nothing had happened. You looked so pure and sweet, and honestly, for the first time, I found myself romantically interested in someone, not because they were popular and I would get something out of it, but because I just wanted to be," Alison laughed bitterly at how airheaded she used to be when it came to human emotions.

Emily looked at her in surprise, "When I fell at the park? But that was-"

"I know," Alison grinned shamelessly. "A month before eighth grade."

Alison had known it. She'd known she would regret being dragged to the park for "family time" with her three dysfunctional family members. Her family wasn't interested in spending time bonding, though they desperately needed it. It was all about appearances for the DiLaurentis'. Her mother had insisted on going to the park on Saturday night, when it was the most occupied, and Alison just knew it was because she wanted everybody in Rosewood to see how close and tight-knit the DiLaurentis family was; the exact opposite of the truth.

She was walking alongside her dad, Kenneth, since he was the only one she wasn't mad at that day. The thirteen-year-old was mad that her brother had tried to steal her diary earlier that day, and she had attempted to kick him in the stomach in return. She was even more furious about the fact that her mother had walked in on the two of them mid-kick and had had the audacity to be furious with her and not Jason, even after she'd explained that the boy was trying to steal her private item. Her father hadn't been home at that time so she couldn't really find herself being mad at him, though she would've appreciated it if he was there to back her up.

They were walking around the park awkwardly, since they didn't even know how to talk to each other anymore. Had they ever known? Some kind of family were they. Out of her family, Alison talked to her brother the most, but they were just fighting all of the time, and she preferred to stay quiet during this evening as her parents made tentative conversations between themselves, sporadically including Jason. Then she saw her.

There was no denying that the girl on the other side of the small pond at the park was beautiful; her silky dark-brown hair was flowing freely, her relatively tall body was moving as she ran, or more so, skipped down the asphalt road made for walkers and bike riders. Aside from being a bit envious of the girl's beauty, Alison mostly just found herself quite amazed at the brunette's level of wholesomeness.

The girl across the pond was chatting happily with an older man who moved lightly just beside her. He looked so much like her, that only a father could fit the definition of who he was to her, Alison thought. She watched, mesmerized as the brunette looked over the pond for a moment and caught her eye. They only exchanged gazes for a split second, but as their eyes met, Alison felt something foreign moving in her stomach.

It wasn't nausea. No, not anything like that. It was collywobbles. Like something undetectable shifting at the very bottom of her abdomen - something she'd never felt before. She could feel her brain quickly repressing whatever it was that she felt during that exchange when her mother glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. But she only had a moment to frown to herself at the unfamiliar feeling before the beautiful, bronze-skinned girl tripped forward on a crack in the asphalt, landing knees-first on the ground.

Alison almost yelped in concern, but then remembered that her family was right next to her, so she forced her face to remain unbothered, even though she felt like running over there on the inside. She saw the man rush quickly to his - again, she guessed - flabbergasted daughter. He kneeled down beside her and helped her to her feet. From what she saw, Alison noticed that the girl, fortunately, didn't injure herself, only got a scratch along the length of her knee. The brown-haired girl only shook her head in amusement and slight embarrassment at herself, beaming up at her father who helped her on her feet and made sure she was okay.

The two took off again, this time walking instead of running, but still having a good time as ever.

When Jason nudged Alison, who was still watching the mysterious girl, out of her daze before her parents could notice she was out of it - which she thanked him for, because she didn't want her parents asking her why she was staring at girls all of a sudden - she continued walking with her family, already crossing a wooden bridge leading to the other side of the park.

And she turned her head back again, she really did. But this time, the girl wasn't there.

"But we weren't even friends then," Emily uttered, positively surprised.

Alison smiled gently, "I know, but after I saw you again on the first day of school, I just knew I had to have you as my friend. I mean, I felt the same thing with Spencer, Aria and Hanna, like something about you four was calling for me, but I didn't understand why it was so intense with you, or why I got this annoying, jittery feeling in my stomach every time you smiled at me, but I wasn't going to question something that went so well in my life."

Alison had thought a lot about that day after she'd officially met Emily, much to her own surprise. Along with the days, though, she'd learned to suppress the need to explore whatever feeling Emily caused her to feel. Then, that sensation of longing magically re-appeared right back sometime in the middle of freshman year. Back then, she'd known she could suppress it no more, because then, as she'd realized just how well she'd known her best friend, Emily, she'd recognized that there was just no way in hell she could even try to forget how the girl made her feel. That feeling had built-up in her all through the remaining months of freshman year and then some into the summertime, until, of course, she and the brunette finally kissed and got together.

"You know, I'm actually pretty sure I tripped that day because I was distracted by you," Emily admitted sheepishly. "So, technically, I should be blaming you for the little scar on my knee," she deadpanned childishly.

"Well, in that case, I'm sorry," Alison chuckled. "But don't worry, babe, I can make it up to you," she leered.

Emily smiled bashfully, turning to exchange a sweet kiss with Alison, who parted away with the same smile.

"Mm, I don't think that's enough," Emily playfully remarked.

Alison giggled, leaning in once more to kiss the brunette, this time more fully. "Trust me, Em, I'll have plenty of time to repay my dues," she said with a quick wink.

A beat skipped in the conversation until Alison spoke again, this time more somberly. "Back then, I had been so scared of my parents' reaction, and I wanted their approval so badly. Now... I mean, they gave me their okay on our relationship, but I still would've dated you if they weren't alright with it. I suppose we all just grew as people since then."

"Yeah, you did, trust me," Emily smiled full of glee. "You're a new person, Ali, different from when I first met you. You used to be cold, untouchable, but now you're... the one person who makes me feel like I'm home, no matter where we go," she looked down, her smile turning softer, "it's hard not to fall in love with this person over and over every day."

Alison, touched beyond measure at her girlfriend's kind words, turned to grab Emily by the hips and kiss her senselessly. Unfortunately, her turn was so sharp and abrupt, the boat rocked and she was falling to her side faster than she could even comprehend the situation. Also, with her hands on Emily's hips, she unintentionally took the brunette down with her, both stumbling and ending up landing face first in the lake water.

As the water grazed Alison's skin, the mixture of the almost-frosty water and the cool morning air almost freezing her to death, she felt a secure arm wrapping around her waist. Instantly knowing it was Emily - because who else would be there at that exact time at the abandoned lake? - her body eased a little as she felt herself being pulled out of the water and onto the boat.

Emily climbed on top of the boat, then anxiously brought Alison up as well, her heartbeat picking up furiously in her chest at the situation. She was prepared to shout at her loudest voice to get someone's attention, or even carry the girl to shore herself. But at that moment, she tensed wide-eyed, before coming out of her shocked gaze and leaning over to Alison, who was lying with her wet body on the boat floor, Emily kneeling restlessly at her side.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked apprehensively, beads of water dripping from her clothes and hair.

Alison opened her eyes and looked up her, coughing a bit, before staring into Emily's eyes with a laugh bubbling inside of her. Seeing that the girl was alright, Emily sighed in amazing relief, leaning her forehead in the crook of Alison's neck, feeling the girl shaking with laughter.

"You're hot when you're playing lifeguard, you know," Alison chuckled with a suggestive tone.

Emily leaned back, smiling like the cat swallowed the canary simply because the blonde was laughing and not in need of any help.

"And you were actually a lifeguard already, wow," Alison remarked, referring to Emily's old job in the country club in the first month of that previous summer, before they had begun dating one another. "How did I miss taking advantage of that opportunity?"

"I might take the lifeguard position again. Next summer, I mean."

Alison smirked wickedly, "Well, now I know what I'm doing next summer. Or who."

Emily rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's banter, helping her sit up cautiously. "For someone who's amazing at a lot of things, Ali, you sure have terrible timing."

Alison giggled and cupped Emily's cheek gracefully, sliding her thumb back and forth on the girl's skin. She leaned in and kissed Emily tentatively for a moment, then brought her second hand to Emily's other cheek, inching closer but still kissing softly and slowly.

Because, even though she knew some of her friends were keen on waking up early and were probably just about to do so, and they'd have to leave soon, she was certain they had all the time in the world.

And when they finally came back to their friends, who were all packing and getting ready to leave, their clothes weren't even wet anymore.

XXXXX

Monday afternoon, Alison exited the locker rooms after gym class with a scowl. It really wasn't ideal to wear heels right after you took a shower at school, she concluded. And what irritated her even more, was that Emily wasn't anywhere in sight, even though the brunette had told her she would meet her after PE.

Annoyed, Alison stomped to her locker. Anyone with half a brain got out of her way, not knowing what was the problem, but simply understanding that you shouldn't mess with Alison when she was angry.

She opened her locker with a huff and pulled out books, placing the ones she just took out in her bag. When she closed the locker, a body bumped into her, sending her into the row of lockers. Whoever it was that bumped into her, was also pushed to the ground by some unknown force, and when Alison looked at him in surprise, he looked terrified for his life.

She instantly deflated, feeling the anger leaving her body because this boy had gotten his fair share of her yelling in the past already, and she really wasn't in the mood to embarrass someone in the middle of the hall. If she was going to shout at someone though, it would have to be the jerk who pushed the boy onto her in the first place.

She sighed heavily, then bent down, offering a simple hand to him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Lucas looked up at her apprehensively, then at her hand in a mixture of shock and inconvenience. He nodded lamely, accepting the hand with a quiet, "Thanks."

Before he could scurry off, Alison called to him, "Lucas?"

He turned back at her, eyes watching her warily. "Yes?"

"Listen, I-" Alison bit the inside of her cheek subconsciously, knowing that a simple apology wouldn't get her off the hook for the pain and humiliation she had caused him over the years. She needed a place to start though, so she moved slightly closer to him, taking a deep breath, "I'm really, really sorry. For everything."

His eyes glanced up at hers in surprise and she managed a sympathetic look. "I know this isn't close to the level of apologizing I need to do, but I hope you know I'm not the same person I was last year."

"How do I know that?" he challenged bravely, causing her to frown in thought.

"You're... you're not just scared of me, are you?" she asked him softly. "There are others in this school who bother you. Who bully you."

He shrugged in attempted-nonchalance, "What did you expect? Unlike in The Alison DiLaurentis World, it's not all magic and raindrops in this school. I don't have everyone bowed down to my feet."

She shuddered uneasily as she listened to his words, deciding not to open up to how wrong he was about his whole perspective on her life. Sure, she had popularity - but she had a lot of private problems that her peers at school didn't really know about. Such as her family, for example. How, despite Jason thankfully being there, she felt as though her parents completely disregarded her nowadays with the both of them constantly being on business trips and such. Also, how most of the people in their town still believed she was a satan replacer on earth, and how hard she was working on changing their minds. And last but not least, how many people had tried to offend her for being a part of a same-sex relationship, when it was hardly something she could control.

Instead, she sighed for the hundredth time, "I just want to prove to you that I won't hurt you anymore." He listened on, his expression turning curious. "I'll make sure nobody lays a hand on you, Lucas. Okay? And whoever pushed you just now will get what's coming for him, I promise. Look, I get it. Sometimes high school sucks, but we just have a few more years of this and then we can all be whoever we want to be."

He frowned at her, wondering if she was genuinely being nice to him or if she was just playing a hoax so she could mercilessly prank him later. But something in her eyes seemed sincere to him so he simply nodded in silent understanding and Alison gave him a small smile. He walked away, still flabbergasted with the blonde's behavior, but with his spirits lifted slightly.

Alison watched him trod down the hall, compassion flooding though her, then anger at herself for ever hurting the shy-looking boy in the first place. Before the self-disappointment could disperse through her body, her eyes caught a familiar brunette eyeing her from across the hallway. Emily approached closer, giving her an affectionate smile.

"I heard what you said to Lucas," Emily said simply.

"He doesn't deserve to be pushed around like that," Alison shook her head sadly. "And I wish I'd known that sooner."

The blonde turned confused when Emily beamed at her. "What?"

"You've just..." Emily shook her head lightly, taking Alison's soft hand in her own. "You've progressed so much. And I'm so proud of you."

Alison smiled wholeheartedly at her girlfriend's praising expression, lacing their fingers together. "Thanks, baby," she said, love and adoration evident in her tone.

"I've got to get to class, I'll see you in English," Emily moved closer to kiss Alison's cheek and began walking away.

"Emily," Alison called out to her, nearly desperate for her not to go.

The brunette turned back to her with a patient expression.

"All of this... all I'm doing... it's all for you. You know that, right?"

Emily smiled shyly, tucking a strand behind her ear. "Yeah, I do," she nodded gently.

And with one final look, she walked away, leaving Alison to stare at her ever-retreating form with a stupidly infatuated smile.