"You both made it!" Aria exclaimed excitedly as she pulled her two friends into a hug.

"Wouldn't miss it," Emily stated with a wide grin, hugging her tiny friend back.

Aria pulled back, "How did you both get here at the same time?"

"I gave her a ride," Alison replied, sending Emily a knowing look, "She just loves my car."

"Ugh honestly that thing is gonna have a break down any day!"

Jason suddenly appeared at his finances side, "Thats what I tell her everyday. Hey Emily, its good to see you again," He said with a welcoming smile as he put his arm around Aria's waist.

"You too Jason."

Alison whacked her brother's arm as the four all made their way out of the foyer and into the lounge, "You're supposed to be on my side."

He poked his tongue out at her and grinned, "So how does it feel to be back in Rosewood?" He asked as he turned to Emily.

She shrugged, "Its strange, it almost feels like I never left."

He smiled, "I think that you can leave Rosewood but Rosewood never really leaves you."

"Its like nothing has changed at all,' She replied, nodding in agreement with Jason's statement.

"Even the same people are asking you out again," Aria teased, causing Emily to blush.

Alison felt her heartbeat speed up and her curiosity peak as she turned to Emily, "Damn newbie, that was fast."

Emily shrugged and felt her cheeks turning a brighter shade of red, "I ran into an old ex-girlfriend of mine and she said we should meet up for coffee. It is not a date!"

"Interesting," Alison muttered to herself, unheard by the rest of the group.

"Oh it so is a date," Aria teased, "Sabrina was totally into you, I can't believe you didn't notice the way she kept looking at you!"

"Sabrina from the Brew?" Alison asked curiously, feeling an unfamiliar rush of jealousy.

Emily nodded, "Oh, she's nice.. So are you gonna go on this date?"

"Not a date!" Emily exclaimed before she shrugged, "I suppose I'll go, it'll be nice to catch up again."

Aria excused herself for a moment as she went to check on the food. Emily turned to Jason, "So how is the counselling practice going?"

"Really great," Jason answered as his face lit up, "Its so rewarding helping out students, we've been doing a lot of work at Rosewood High with them."

"And it means you get to see me everyday," Alison joked.

"You teach?"

"English. They warned me not to teach a subject that I loved, I really should have listened."

"Is it really that bad?" Emily asked, laughing.

"No I guess it can be so rewarding at time," Alison answered honestly, "But I wish the 10th graders would actually appreciate the great works of Dickens."

Emily pulled a face and replied, "I think I'm with the kids on that one. But I did fall in love with Great Expectations."

Alison smiled, "Great expectations is one of my favorites too."

"Its one of the only books I ever really enjoyed, But I'm sure I would've paid much more attention if you were my high school English teacher," Emily replied before blushing when she realized what she'd said, "I mean-"

"Thanks newbie," Alison replied, wiggling her eyebrows.

Emily rolled her eyes, "You call me newbie, but you do realize I lived here before you right?"

"I know," She answered, "But I just love how much you hate it."

Before Emily could reply Aria called the three into the kitchen for dinner. The meal went by quickly with the conversation flowing smoothly between the four, Aria and Jason spoke about their wedding details and plans whilst Ali and Em would offer their input and suggestions in.

"So Ali, do you know if you're bringing a plus one or not yet?" Aria asked after Emily had excused herself from the table to go to the bathroom.

Alison shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"How are things going with you and Lorenzo? You haven't mentioned him in a while."

"They're okay. We haven't spent much time together lately, but I'll find out what he's doing and ask him if he can make it to the wedding. He's been working a lot," Alison lied with a sigh as she stared at Emily's empty chair, suddenly feeling a little guilty. It was partly true that he had been working but Alison had also been avoiding his calls a lot, unsure as to if her feelings were real for him which she'd been beginning to question more and more each day.

Jason shot her a look of concern, "He's treating you right?"

"Yes," Alison answered with a smile, laughing at Jason's protective nature, "He is."

"Good."

"You and Em seem to be getting along," Aria observed, causing Alison's heart rate to rise. She surely couldn't have picked up on her slight crush towards her? Alison mused to herself for a moment, this was obscene, she didn't have a crush on Emily.. No it was purely just the development of a good friendship that was all. Just friends.

"W-what do you mean?" For the first time in her life Alison found herself stuttering slightly as she blushed. Aria and Jason both exchanged a puzzled glance.

"You and Em, you're becoming good friends right?"

Alison felt herself relax, "Oh yeah, I guess we are."

Emily soon returned from the bathroom and conversation began to flow lightly again until Alison glanced at the clock and muttered something about needing to leave because of an early staff meeting tomorrow.

"Thank you for having me over," Emily said as the four made their way to the front door.

"Its our pleasure Em, its good to have you back here," Aria replied, hugging her friend.

"We should all do this again sometime," Jason stated, the three all agreed.

Emily nodded, "I'd like that."

"See you tomorrow Jase," Alison said to her brother before turning to Aria, "I'll text you tomorrow."

"Okay and let me know when you find out about Lorenzo."

Alison gave her a tight smile, "I will."

With that Alison and Emily turned and walked back to Alison's car as Aria and Jason stood watching them as they drove off. He slipped an arm around his fiancé's waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Do you think Ali seemed a little different tonight at all?" He asked, thinking out loud.

"Maybe a little, I don't know. Why?"

"Just a feeling," Jason replied before shrugging, "Its probably nothing."

"So tonight was fun," Emily remarked as she and Ali entered their apartment building.

Alison nodded in agreement, "Definitely."

"And your car even made it back here without breaking down, I'm impressed," Emily teased, causing Alison to elbow her in the rib lightly.

"Hey! It is perfectly healthy for your information."

"Keep telling yourself that."

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they stepped into the elevator. They soon arrived on the third floor and stopped when they reached Emily's apartment. She soon began fumbling for her keys.

"So uhm, this is kind of embarrassing," Emily started, pulling her key from her bag, "But I need to write my resume if I'm going to start applying for jobs here- and I guess its been a while and well- since you're an English teacher and- Do you think you could help me out?"

Alison smiled, "Of course I can."

"Thank you. Are you busy now?"

Alison hesitated, "I- I probably should be getting to sleep soon I have that staff meeting in the morning so-"

"Don't worry," Emily stopped her, "Another time?"

"Another time."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"So good night," Alison said, smiling at Emily before turning away, feeling guilty that she'd turned down her offer. Why had she turned down the offer? Sure she had that meeting but really the early mornings never bothered her, she knew she could've stayed and helped her..

She dug the keys out of her bag and opened her door, turning around one last time to find Emily already gone. She let out a sigh and made her way inside, setting her bag down on the table. She grabbed her TV remote before plopping herself down on her couch and sliding her shoes off.

She began to flick through the channels absentmindedly as she thought back to the events of the evening. Why was it that the thought of Emily going on a date with another girl had made her feel jealous, she was Alison DiLaurentis, jealousy had never been an emotion associated with her. And yet here she was, jealous of a girl who she barely even knew going on a date with someone else. She tried to reason with herself, maybe it was because her own love life was looking particularly dire at the moment, she and Lorenzo had been getting on but he wasn't exactly the love of her life. That spark seemed to be missing. She shook her head as her mind wandered back to Emily, she definitely was not jealous nor feeling protective over the new brunette in her life, they were just friends and that was all. Sure, she had to admit that Emily was attractive but anyone could see that. She wasn't attracted to her, no, Emily was simply just an attractive human being. Besides, she was straight. Right?

Meanwhile in Emily's apartment Emily also found herself replaying the events of the evening in her mind. Aria was right, Sabrina had been hinting at a date with her and five years ago she would have found herself excited at the prospect of it. But now something seemed to be holding her back and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was or why. She grabbed her laptop from her suitcase and switched it on to begin working on her resume.

Without so much as a thought Alison found herself getting up from the sofa and grabbing the bottle of wine from the table before padding over to Emily's apartment, even forgetting to put her shoes on.

She knocked on the door eagerly and smiled when Emily opened the door with a surprised look on her face. "Ali, what are you doing here?"

She held up the bottle of wine, "Well I found this in the fridge and whats that saying- sharing is caring right? Besides I thought I'd come and help you out with your resume, if you still want my help?"

"Of course, come in," Emily said as she ushered Alison into her apartment. "Don't you need to be up early for your meeting tomorrow though?"

Alison smiled to herself, "Guess I'm not as tired as I thought I was after all. So are you ready to write a kickass resume?"

"Maybe after a glass of wine," Emily joked as she grabbed two empty glasses from the cupboard before taking the bottle from Alison and pouring out the liquid. She handed the blonde a glass before taking a sip from her own.

"So what sort of jobs were you thinking of?"

"Honestly.." Emily began, "Anything that I can find. Its been a couple of years I've had a job and I'm just ready to get back out there and work. So y'know, we're gonna have to write a pretty great resume here."

Alison smiled at Emily's determination, "No pressure then."

"I really appreciate the help," Emily replied, reaching over and grabbing Alison's hand before squeezing it, she jumped a little at the contact before looking up and smiling at the brunette.

"Anytime. I mean it. Thats what friends are for, right."

Emily nodded and sighed inwardly. 'Friends'. And there she was, in the friend zone. "Right," Emily agreed.

"So why exactly haven't you been working for the last two years? If you don't mind me asking.."

"Its a long story, how long do you have?"

"For you, all night."

Emily gave Ali a small smile before shaking her head, "I'll tell you another time."

Sensing that she shouldn't push Emily on the subject, Alison dropped it, "So are you ready to start?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than the others it isn't my favorite one but there are good things coming;) hope you enjoyed it anyway, please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it. The next one should be up in the next few days :)