5 - Spin the Bottle

"Ladies! Good thing you made it," Noel Kahn greeted and waved his arms, gesturing to the party.

'That's if you can even call it a party,' Emily thought begrudgingly.

She was always slightly concerned and reluctant about going to parties at the Kahns' cabin. There were teens everywhere drinking and doing R-rated things and it just wasn't her style. Emily was never quite the person to show PDA.

Then again, as she looked at Alison, she thought to herself, 'that might change.'

"Of course. After all, what's a Noel Kahn party without Alison DiLaurentis?" she winked playfully at him and Emily felt her stomach sink slowly.

She reasoned to herself that this was just Alison being her flirty self as she watched the interaction between the two of them carefully. Noel laughed a little and gave Alison a smug grin which Emily didn't like what-so-ever. Outrage suddenly went through her entire being as her stormy eyes caught Noel resting his hand on Alison's shoulder for a fraction too long. She wasn't usually quick to get so wrathful about things, but when it came to Alison, she just couldn't help herself from growing hastily sharp and bitter.

"Indeed," he confirmed. "You came in with perfect timing, we were just about to start a game of Spin the Bottle upstairs." he gestured to stairs.

"We'll be right up," Alison offered with a sweet smile. Noel nodded and walked away from the girls. The blonde turned around to come face to face with a very unamused Emily who was following Noel's movements with eyes as narrow as a needle.

Alison tried to decipher the look on Emily's face as she started towards the stairs. The girls followed her, as always. She let Hanna, Spencer and Aria walk past her but when Emily paced, Alison grabbed her forearm gently and Emily stopped in her tracks. She looked at Alison in confusion and slight irritation. There was still anger in her eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by the blonde.

"Em, are you okay?" Alison asked in concern.

"Ali, what was that?" Emily said in a voice so little and weak that Alison had to lean forward in order to actually hear it. The blonde raised her eyebrows in reaction, as she really didn't understand where Emily was going with this conversation. "That. You and Noel," the brunette elaborated and Alison frowned in puzzlement, urging Emily to continue. "It looked like he was a little too friendly, that's all."

Emily was just worried, she wasn't used to talking about these kinds of things with Alison, openly expressing her feelings like that, considering she had never brought it up when the two of them were alone, and especially because she didn't know exactly what she and Alison were.

"We were just talking, Em," Alison assured and giggled at the implication of Emily's words. The brunette merely let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and looked away. "Wait," Alison continued. "Emily Fields, are you... are you jealous? Over me?" the blonde asked with a sinful smirk on her lips.

Emily rolled her eyes dismissively at the statement. She wasn't jealous. Right?

"Because," Alison started, leaning forward to whisper discreetly in Emily's ear, "jealousy, Em, looks so hot on you." She didn't give the girl a chance to answer, grabbing Emily's shaky hand and leading her up the stairs. She truly meant it, too. Just like in The Brew earlier that day, Alison realized that seeing different sides of Emily, sides that weren't her usual kind, timid ones, sides that were jealous and perhaps even aggressive, was something she liked more than she cared to admit. And now, considering everything, she had no problem telling that to Emily's ears alone.

Once they got to the room, they saw a big circle of people they were all familiar with. Noel, Jenna, Mona, Lucas, Sean, Ben, Holden, Andrew, Paige and Bridget Wu were all in the game and the girls sat down in random places and joined.

"Alright, everyone, ready to start?" Noel announced as he observed everyone in the circle. People nodded and a few "woo"s and "yeah"s were sounded in the background, which seemed to please him.

"The rules are simple: we start by spinning a bottle. The bottle lands on two people, one on each side, and the people that it lands on, must kiss. The kiss can be as long or as short as you'd like it to be," Noel explained as he crawled to the middle of the circle and grabbed the bottle. "Ready?" he asked and people cheered positively in unison.

Emily was, as always, a bit apprehensive about playing these kinds of games, since she was shy and quite innocent, but when her favorite blonde gave her an encouraging smile from across the circle, she felt like it gave her enough confidence in order to follow through with it. She didn't know how it happened, but yet again, Alison has always had this magical effect on her.

Noel finally spun the bottle, and it landed on-

Emily and Paige. "Not pigskin," Alison muttered heatedly under her breath, regretting participating in this foul game.

"Well, you two know what you need to do," Noel noted boastfully. Emily crawled hesitantly to the center of the circle as Paige did the same.

"Hey," Paige greeted awkwardly, feeling everybody's eyes on her.

"Hey, Paige," Emily answered politely. Emily risked a glance over to Alison who had been watching the interaction with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

'Who's jealous now?' the brunette thought smugly to herself and almost suppressed a giggle. The thought of having some sort of similar effect on Alison the way the blonde had on her for years now was more satisfying than Emily could've imagined.

"Are you two gonna kiss or not?" a random guy asked from outside the circle. Emily took a deep breath, leaning in to give Paige a quick kiss. "That's not nearly a kiss!" the same random guy shouted.

"Randy, that's more than enough for you, you horndog!" Alison shouted in response. Aria smiled a little to herself as she watched Alison's jealousy taking over her.

"Bitch," Randy muttered under his breath before walking away angrily. Emily shot Alison a grateful look but instantly saw the fury flashing in the blonde's eyes. Alison was definitely jealous, and now Emily knew it too. The brunette got a sudden shot of confidence at that and dared to look down to Paige's lips which didn't go unnoticed by Paige nor Alison. Paige, misreading her signal, tried to lean back in, but Emily had crawled back to her spot in the circle and Paige clumsily did the same.

"That was so hot," Andrew whispered a little too loudly. Alison shot him a death glare and all traces of smiles on his face quickly disappeared. Noel returned to the middle of the circle and spun the bottle once more.

The game went on for a while, causing the most random duos to kiss, much to the entertainment of everyone else in the room; Mona kissed Bridget, Holden kissed Jenna, Spencer kissed Andrew, Aria kissed Noel and Hanna kissed Sean, amongst other duos.

It was all for the sake of the game, but Alison smiled to herself as she watched her three best friends gushing over kissing their crushes.

Andrew spun the bottle this time and it landed on Alison and Noel. The two pompous, popular teens crawled to the middle of the circle.

"We meet again, DiLaurentis."

Alison rolled her eyes. She used to love being coy and playful with Noel, but now that she and Emily knew how they felt about each other, she didn't want to kiss anyone else but the girl who could make her heart flutter with one smile. "What's wrong, Ali? Can't handle the heat?" Noel teased playfully. Alison answered him with another exasperated eye roll. They both leaned in and just as they were about to kiss-

They heard an obnoxiously loud cough behind them. They turned to see Emily choking on her drink and Spencer patting on her back, trying to help her with her cough. Once Emily had stopped coughing, she noticed Alison looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a particular smirk.

Alison turned back to Noel and gave him a peck on the lips before crawling back to her place. Noel chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Aw, you used to be better at this, Ali. Oh well, same old," he shrugged nonchalantly and went back to his vacant spot.

Andrew spun the bottle a few more times until what Emily had hoped would happen, finally happened. The bottle landed on herself and a very familiar blonde that she's been wanting to kiss all night.

Emily and Alison crept to the middle and the blonde raised an eyebrow before whispering in a tone only Emily could hear, "Wanna recreate last night?" The brunette gulped audibly and Alison giggled scandalously in return.

They both leaned forward and their lips molded together. Alison cupped the back of Emily's neck with her hand to keep her in place, and Emily let her hand drop gently to Alison's cheek. They both knew they had to restrain themselves because they knew a lot of people were watching, even people from outside the circle who tagged along to watch the game.

They separated after God knows how long and made the mistake of looking at each other's eyes a little too deeply. Emily noticed in the corner of her eye Spencer and Hanna with a look of pure disbelief and Aria smiling giddily in approval.

She broke her gaze with Alison and crawled backwards. The blonde smirked when she looked behind her and saw her friends' faces. She reached her spot casually and gave Emily a saucy wink that never failed to drive the brunette crazy.

"Ugh, I'm getting bored, let's just end this game," Jenna exclaimed out of nowhere and some people nodded in agreement. Everyone started getting up and dispersing, leaving the five girls alone in the room as Hanna, Emily, Spencer and Aria saw that Alison had stayed back and did the same.

"Okay, what was that?" Hanna whispered loudly to Spencer who still wore a confused look on her face.

"What was what?" Emily asked innocently as she unknowingly interrupted the conversation.

"That kiss with Ali! It was steamier than any other kiss in the game," Hanna, who for the life of her, did not know to chat discreetly, whispered even louder. This was noticed by Aria and Alison as they joined the conversation.

"What do you mean?" Alison asked in a naive voice.

"I mean... I don't know, it just looked like it was so passionate, not like anyone else in the game, who kissed only because it was a game," Hanna pointed out.

"Hanna's right. And that never-ending gaze, too. I know chemistry when I see it, I got an A+ on every test since we started learning the subject." Spencer said and the four girls rolled their eyes and giggled at their brainy best friend's words.

"No, I'm serious, guys," she looked at Hanna and Aria before adding, "we even talked about it earlier today-"

"We know, Spence." Alison interrupted her friend.

"Know what? That we talked about you and Em?" Hanna asked, earning an elbow shove to her ribs, courtesy of Spencer.

"Yes," Alison plainly confirmed.

"How do you know?" Spencer asked curiously.

Alison studied Aria with cautious eyes. "It doesn't matter. Em and I know that you were talking about us." Spencer and Hanna exchanged a look and Alison added, "We're not mad, right, Em?"

Emily, who had been watching the conversation carefully, gave them a small smile, "Yeah, it's fine."

"You know what? This is a party. The party. So let's just go and have some fun," Alison changed the subject rather quickly and left the room with the girls in tow.

And that's what they did. The girls conquered the dance floor together as a group and when the time came for slow dancing, Sean danced with Hanna, Andrew danced with Spencer, Noel danced with Aria, and Emily and Alison... sat down on the couch with a sigh.

"Come on," Alison said while getting up and stretching out her hand for Emily to grab, refusing to be the girl who sat on the side when everyone was dancing.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked, clearly puzzled.

"You'll see," was the only thing Alison responded as she grabbed Emily by the hand and pulled her to her feet. The brunette quickly turned intrigued and followed Alison out of the house. The latter led them to the backyard where no one could see them.

The music was still roaming and could be easily heard in the backyard as Alison stopped pacing and turned to look at Emily. She wrapped both of her arms around Emily's neck and noticed how the other girl stiffened momentarily at the gesture, but then melted into her touch.

Emily wrapped her arms around Alison's waist and sighed. They swayed along to the slow music and Alison brought their bodies closer together, resting her chin on Emily's shoulder.

"Ali," the brunette started hesitantly. She knew she had to ask Alison the one question that's been burning in the back of her mind ever since their first kiss in Alison's kitchen. "What are we?" the brunette tried to ask casually, but Alison noticed her voice slightly cracking.

"What do you mean?" she answered back softly.

"You know what I mean, Ali."

"What do you want us to be?" Alison asked in an uncharacteristically gentle tone as they both continued to sway.

"I don't know. I mean, I-I do know it's j-just," Emily cursed herself for stuttering.

"It's just what?" Alison prompted softly for Emily to continue.

"It's just," Emily chose her words carefully and sighed. "We're not just friends anymore but we're-we're not a-"

"Couple?" Alison finished.

"Yeah, I mean, are we... d-dating? Or 'sneaking around'? Or-"

Alison cut Emily off in the middle of her nervous rambling. "Em," she sighed. She was forcing herself to take off her phony masks and answer the brunette as truthfully as she could. It took every ounce of courage in her body to stare into Emily's understanding, brown eyes, feeling something she had never felt before. She had no choice but to speak from the heart. "I-I want to be with you, I really do," Alison breathed out honestly and quietly as she pulled back and gave the brunette a serious look.

"You do?" Emily answered back, amazed. She had never thought Alison of all people would want to be with her. The resident Queen Bee of Rosewood High wanted to be with a girl. Wanted to be with Emily.

"Yes, Emily," Alison stopped swaying and the Emily stopped with her. They kept their arms in the same positions as the blonde continued, "Em, you make me feel things I've never felt before. With a boy or a girl. With anyone." Tingles ran through Alison's whole being as she felt the words leaving her mouth. It was like she couldn't control what she was saying anymore. Like she was locked in a trance.

Emily looked at her with both confusion and affection in her eyes and Alison merely took that as a sign to continue, "I'll never look at a guy the way I look at you, and I've never looked at a girl this way before, either. You're this... exception to the rule. You're the only exception, Emily."

The emotional brunette was on the verge of freshly-brewed tears while listening to Alison's words. "You make me feel things I don't really understand either, Ali. But-"

"No buts, Emily. Please." Alison pleaded as her eyes turned glassy. It was hard enough already to admit everything that she was letting out right now. She freed her hands from their position and swallowed harshly. Emily did the same and they simply stood there for a couple of silent seconds before the blonde continued.

"Em, I-I can't describe the feeling I get when I look into your eyes. I wish I could, but it's like I can't find the proper words. Your eyes, they're... they're so inviting and warm. Unlike anyone else I've ever met. And I can't explain what I feel when I hear you laugh, or when I see you smile. God, Em, when you smile, you light up the entire room. And it's like you don't even see it, either.

"I mean, I'm used to acting arrogant and, well, full of myself, because people let me, but with you... you're so oblivious to your own beauty that it's humbling. If you had just noticed what kind of effect you have on me, then you would've known why I've always told you you were my favorite. Why I sometimes get possessive over you. Why I always ask you to spend time with me without the other girls, or why, when we are with them, most of my focus goes to you. Why... why I like you so much, Em. Why I love-" Alison's brain finally caught up with her mouth as she cut herself off. As she realized what she just had said, what she had just admitted to the graceful brunette in front of her, she took a few steps back from Emily who looked at her with wide, brown, tearful eyes.

When she didn't hear a response from Emily, who simply stood with her mouth agape, she thought of the worst.

'Of course she doesn't love me back, why would she? Emily is an angel on earth and I'm no better than Satan. I was so stupid to think she would, could ever love me back, I was nothing more than her silly crush,' she thought bitterly to herself as she, for the first time in her life, felt like she was about to go home with her tail tucked between her legs.

Alison turned on her heel to leave before Emily could see her cry, but just then, she felt a warm hand closing tightly around her wrist. Emily spun Alison around to face her and brought her so close, that their bodies flushed together. She leaned in and pressed her lips hard against the blonde's. She needed Alison to know just how much she wanted her in return, just as much.

It took a few seconds for Alison to put her surprise at the gesture aside, as she responded to the kiss passionately. Their lips moved in unbreakable rhythm, and the rest of the world just seemed to fade away. Alison's stomach was slowly getting used to this strange, abnormal feeling of butterflies whenever Emily kissed her, not knowing that the exact same was happening to Emily from within.

Finally, Emily pulled away, and with her lips still brushing against Alison's, she said, "I love you too, Ali. And I've waited way too long to say that."

They breathed hard for a couple of seconds before gently resting their foreheads against one another's. Alison's stomach was turning and spiraling, though in a pleasant way. She knew it was going to take her a bit to just process what had just happened. What she had just admitted to Emily and what the brunette had admitted to her. More so, what it all meant. But as for the moment, they stayed like that, with their foreheads connected, for what seemed like hours, simply enjoying the lack of distance between them.

All of a sudden, they heard a rustle from the bushes behind them. The two spun around quickly and scanned the area around them with their eyes, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. They heard footsteps getting farther away from them, and then a loud thud followed by a crunch sound.

"Ow Spence, what the hell?!"

Alison and Emily quickly recognized the voice as Hanna's and ran to the source of the noise.

And there they were - only a few feet away from the bushes, they saw Hanna lying on the ground, with a few broken branches that probably made the sound of the crunch when Hanna assumingly slipped on them. Spencer was rushing to shush her by covering her mouth with her hand and Aria was helping her get up. The three of them spun around and all five girls just stared at each other with terrified looks of horror, and their mouths wide open.

Alison finally spoke up first. "Okay, what the hell is going on?"

It was Spencer who looked cautiously between Emily and Alison before answering. "We might've overheard your little chat," she said, air quoting the word 'chat'.

Emily hesitantly looked at Alison, "Wait, how much exactly did you hear?"

"Let's just say, enough to justify your behavior in the game earlier," Spencer answered wittily.

Emily looked at Aria with accusing eyes and the petite brunette spoke as if she read her mind, "Hey, don't look at me, I tried to stop them!" She put her hands up in the air in a defensive manner.

That didn't go unnoticed by Spencer. "You knew about this?" she rounded on Aria.

"Well-" Aria started but was cut off by Spencer.

"Of course you did! Why am I the last one to know things? Aren't I supposed to be a Hastings?" she said, chuckling bitterly.

"Spence, I didn't know either, okay?" Hanna said in all seriousness. "So are you two like, together now?" she asked, turning her head away from Spencer to look at Alison and Emily, trying to put together everything she had heard from the conversation between the two.

"Well... no. But I was just about to ask Em a question, Hanna, before you three thought you had the right to eavesdrop." Alison harshly replied and grabbed Emily's hand. The three other girls had the courtesy to look somewhat bashful, stepping back a relatively large distance in order to give Alison and Emily a moment.

The blonde swallowed, "This isn't exactly the way I ever thought I'd be doing this, but-"

Emily looked into Alison's eyes as the blonde spoke, and interrupted her mid-sentence. "You said no buts, remember?" she said, giggling softly. Salty, yet joyful tears now ran down her cheeks as her mind focused on nothing but Alison.

Alison raised an eyebrow and smirked, noticing the naughtiness in Emily's comment and received a playful push on her shoulder from the brunette, who wasn't all that surprised by Alison's boldness. Alison chuckled and wiped away Emily's tears with her thumb as she ran her other thumb on the brunette's hand, setting fire on Emily's skin as the girl blushed.

At that instant, they both ignored the girls' presence further away from them, not letting that affect their moment. Hell, they forgot that the rest of the world even existed.

Alison took a deep breath, "Em, ever since I've known you, you have been my Mermaid, my Killer, my sweet, innocent Emily. Will you do me the honor of being your girlfriend?"