Hey y'all! I promised that there would be good shit and there is! It just took awhile to write. I think you'll forgive me for the wait once you read the chapter. :)

I hope that everyone is still enjoying this Emison journey and I give many, many thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing.

I highly recommend that you don't read this with other people nearby ;)

In the sparsely populated town of Rosewood, Emily had a bad habit of daydreaming while driving. The familiarity of the roads lulled her into a false sense of security. Today was a terrible day for drifting thoughts.

"Fuck!" She slammed on her brakes when a body threw itself in front of her car. Her racing heartbeat skipped when she recognized the blur peering into her car with hands rapping on the hood. "Duncan!" she screamed rolling down her window. "What the hell?!"

He chuckled as she clutched her chest and heaved. "Hey there, stranger."

As he leaned into her car with his forearms propped in the driver's side window, she joked still breathless, "No apology for jumping in front of me like a crazy person?" His smile widened as she reminded with a scowl, "It's not like I've lived through a traumatic car accident or anything."

Patting his friend on the head with fake pity, Duncan replied, "Yeah, yeah, I know."

She couldn't help but smirk at his dismissal. She could have used that attitude over the past two years. While Hanna didn't shirk her duties in the tough love department, she didn't bring the same levity that Duncan did to snarky comments. "You're an asshole," she pushed him back with her hand on his face.

He swatted away her hand, "I could say the same to you. You don't call; you don't write." He smiled, "Did you get sick of my whining?"

"I knew whining was a good word," she mumbled as she mentally patted herself on the back for what Alison had deemed a poor word choice.

Glancing down at his feet, he sighed teetering back and forth between his heels and toes, "I know I was wasted. I shouldn't have called."

She shifted uncomfortably, "You really don't need to apologize."

"That's right," he nodded bouncing his index finger on his forehead as he recalled. "You're the jerk here. Going around and ignoring your best friend's phone calls." He ended with a small pout. She missed that adorable look on his face. He was one of the warmest men she'd ever met with a wild side to match her own.

"I am definitely the jerk here," she shook her head with a twinge of shame knowing she was a jerk in more ways than he knew.

He tapped against the hood of the car excitedly, "You wanna come inside and hang out? We've got two years to make up for."

"I—" She knew what her answer should be and she had every intention of honoring her promise to Alison. A tiny spurt of nausea shot from her stomach to her throat as she realized she and Duncan might never have another civil conversation and definitely would never hang out like they used to.

"There's no alcohol," he assured, attributing her hesitation to the possibility of leftover beer and liquor. "And I've got the new Grand Theft Auto."

"God I love those stupidly addicting games," she groaned. She would love to have his company while spending hours stealing people's cars and shooting people. She highly doubted Alison would thrive in the video game cave she formed with closed blinds, dimmed lights, chips and lots of caffeine.

"Then come inside and we can kill some people."

"I really can't..." Her voice trailed off as she quietly suppressed the loop of curse words rolling around in her head.

"Look," he assured leaning back into the window. "I promise I won't bitch about Alison. We just need some bro time." An extremely weak, guilt ridden smile stretched across her lips as he continued. "We always had at least two nights a week, just the two of us."

She really wanted to pummel her steering wheel to channel her overwhelming frustration. Part of her longed to go inside, hang out with him and pretend like nothing was wrong. However, she knew Alison would string her up by her toenails and then probably break up with her. She stressed once again, "I really can't."

He smirked poking her jokingly in the shoulder, "Don't tell me you've already found girls in Rosewood?"

"Ummmm," the universal sound of passive admittance slipped from her lips.

"Bros before hoes," he reminded with feigned sincerity.

"I—" As her eye contact wavered, she reached for one explanation that he would believe, "I just came from a meeting and I'm wiped." In reality, she was driving home from Alison's house. "I need to crash." At least that was true.

"Fine, fine," he nodded with understanding. "How about tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.

"Tomorrow isn't good," she said quickly rushing the conversation. She could only lie to his face for so long.

"Em. C'mon," he said with both confusion and disappointment.

"I promise I'll see you sometime this week."

"I'm going to hold you to that," he said pleased with the prospect of spending time with his friend. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be the bro night he expected.

"Cool. So I'm going to drive home and try not to hit idiots who jump into the road."

"Who the hell does that shit?" his eyes twinkled as he kissed her on the forehead. "Be safe. Oh… Em?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for listening over the phone. It means a lot." Every single word dropping out of his mouth piled more dirt onto her mountain of guilt. "I can't talk to Toby and Ezra like this."

"Not a problem," the corners of her lips barely pulled up into a smile.

"Are we back to normal?"

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. "Definitely."

He stepped back with a grin and waved her forward, "Get out of here, Fields."

After turning a corner at the end of the street, Emily pulled out her phone and called her most recent contact. "Hey babe, guess who I almost killed with my car."

"Auri," Emily called out from her kitchen to the girl on her couch. "Do you like macaroni and cheese?"

"Yes, Emmy!" Auri replied loud enough to be heard over the television.

"Good, because that's what I'm making," she said setting down a pot of water onto her stove top. Thank god Mona wasn't picky about what her daughter ate. Emily had only been instructed to steer clear of sugar for the day. Since Auri was born in Mona's last year of college, Mona had been too caught up with juggling classes and a baby to care about dietary restrictions. Emily and Maya made countless grocery store runs picking up the cheapest baby formula and containers of Gerber.

"Hey babe," Alison chirped from the couch next to Auri. "Weren't you waiting on an answer from Hanna about tomorrow?"

"Did I get a text?" The brunette asked over her shoulder as she flipped on the eye of the stove.

"Yup."

"Can you check it and just yell out a curse-word-free version of whatever she says? I know how you feel about getting up from the couch." Emily snickered at her own sarcasm. Alison did love that couch.

Barely five seconds later, the blonde stomped into the kitchen wielding her girlfriend's phone, "Who is Stephanie and why does she miss your tongue?"

"Oh joy," Emily groaned dropping her head and sighing.

"An answer would be nice," the blonde pressed with irritation.

Facing her irked girlfriend who was waving the screen in front of her face, Emily said, "It's not what you think."

When Emily reached for the phone, Alison jerked it behind her head and demanded, "Then please tell me what it means."

"It means you probably shouldn't check my phone from now on." Emily made another swipe for her phone.

"Now on!" Alison's jaw dropped. "You get texts like this all the time?"

"No!" The brunette waved her hands negating the claim but then corrected reluctantly, "I mean yes. I did. I used to. Past tense." Emily insisted finally giving up on her phone and stirring the empty pot of water.

"How many texts did you get like this in say… a week?"

Not even considering answering the question, Emily set the spoon on the counter and held out an open hand, "Ali, can I please have my phone?"

"Fine," the blonde slapped the phone into her girlfriend's hand. "Can I have an answer?"

"No, you most certainly cannot," Emily shook her head as her fingers tapped on her phone screen.

"What are you doing?" Alison crossed her arms and asked defiantly, "Telling Stephanie she can't spend her four hour layover with your tongue?"

The brunette snorted at the phrasing, "I'm telling her that I have a girlfriend. I won't hear from her again. She'll take me off whatever list she has."

Cringing, Alison responded with her tongue wiping around in her mouth with disgust, "You probably could have left out that last sentence."

"Huh. Why?" an oblivious Emily asked looking up from her phone.

"Saying 'list' is beyond gross," Alison replied. Mouthing 'oh', the brunette nodded returning her attention to the screen. "Now what are you doing?" the blonde inquired. Instantly, her face scrunched up in abhorrence of the nagging words coming out of her mouth.

"Deleting numbers that I don't need anymore." Emily tapped and swiped. She rolled her eyes at the ridiculous amount of scrolling and clicking it took to delete a contact.

Apparently, Alison picked up on the excessive effort and commented, "That's a lot of numbers."

"Ali…" Emily glanced up with a look of concern.

She studied the blonde's face as Alison shrugged, "It's just an observation."

Shaking her head, Emily slid her phone onto the counter. "Don't lie to me." She pried the blonde's arms from across her chest and kissed the tops of both of her hands.

With a sigh, her Northern girl admitted, "I don't want to see texts like that." She added, "I shouldn't have to."

"I know," Emily agreed. "I'm sorry." When the conflicted irritation drained from Alison's blue eyes, Emily added, "I'd flip out if I saw that on your phone."

"Would you?" Alison smiled cocking an eyebrow.

"Duh," the brunette continued, "I don't really wanna know who you've… slept with—oh shi—crap." Emily censored her annoyance as she smacked her palm onto her forehead. Am I really this dense?

"What?"

After a long sigh, Emily asked hesitantly, "Are you uncomfortable with my uh…" she struggled to find an appropriate word and decided on something vague, "past with multiple pe—"

"No," Alison chirped before Emily could finish the sentence. "You're with me now. None of that matters."

Her answer was perfect, too perfect, and Emily knew it. "You expect me to believe that?"

Pausing as if rolling a tumble of responses around in her head, Alison replied, "I don't know how to answer that."

Not wanting the boiling of water to distract her from Alison, Emily turned off the eye of the stove. She backed herself into the counter with her girlfriend in front of her, "Tell me how it makes you feel."

As the blonde nibbled on her bottom lip, Emily's brow knit together with worry. In her mind, the past is the past. She had been naive to think it was that simple for Alison. Clearly not wanting to create any kind of tension, Alison offered, "I just need to adjust."

Emily frowned at the ambiguous answer, which bothered her because Alison seemed reluctant to tell her the truth. The brunette smiled hoping to put her girlfriend at ease and said, "Babe. I really want to know. She tucked blonde hair behind Alison's ear and assured, "How you feel about this really matters to me."

Alison breathed, "I feel insecure."

"Ali," Emily winced at the response and she rubbed the tops of Alison's hands with her thumbs.

"I know you want to be with me," the blonde assured. "I do. I just…"

"You just what?" Emily pressed to coax the rest of the words from Alison's mouth.

"I worry."

Hoping contact might offer a bit of security, Emily pulled Alison toward her, draped the blonde's arms behind her neck and asked, "About what?"

"What if I—" the blonde cleared her throat, "get lost in the shuffle."

"Wait what?" Emily almost choked.

Alison cocked an eyebrow knowing she didn't need to spell it out. "You know what I mean."

"That is absolutely not going to happen," Emily shook her head with wide eyes and wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist. Did Alison not know how incredibly addicted she was to her presence and everything about her? Although they spent a fair amount of time in their individual lives, those days apart were plagued with occasional pangs of withdrawal.

Matter-of-factly, the blonde replied with her hands shrugging behind Emily's head, "You can't say that for sure."

"Heck yes I can," the brunette scoffed. Her eyes darted upward and she stressed. "I have never wanted to be with someone so freaking badly." It didn't register that her declaration encompassed every woman she had ever known, including Maya. She brushed her fingertips on Alison's back and said, "I don't think about anyone else but you. I probably couldn't if I tried."

Alison smiled for the first time in a few minutes. "You really like me don't you? Like really, really."

Emily's face scrunched, "It kinda freaks me out." Two beautiful blue eyes stared into hers begging for Emily to embrace her tender emotions rather than dismiss them. Emily knew she failed to express her feelings consistently and she could tell that Alison needed a peek right now. "You look at me and nothing else matters. I get all fuzzy."

"All fuzzy?" the blonde grinned.

Through eyes squinted with discomfort, Emily groaned sarcastically, "I don't sound whipped at all."

"I like sweet Emily."

The adorable look on Alison's face encouraged another sappy response. "Please tell me if I ever do something that makes you feel like you aren't the most important person in my life."

Immeasurable affection swam in Alison's eyes. Before Emily could decide whether her own terror outweighed her excitement, Alison pulled her forward and bathed Emily's lips with her devotion and passion. As Alison's lips thanked her girlfriend for a brief moment of transparency, Emily sighed as she pinpointed what emotion swallowed every other one whole: contentment. There was nowhere that she would rather be and no one else she would rather be with at this point in her life.

"Umm, Em," Alison murmured against the brunette's lips.

"Yes, beautiful?" the brunette planted one last kiss and pulled back.

"Speaking of other people…" She swallowed as her hands dropped from Emily's neck to her waist then said nervously, "I need to ask you something and I'm afraid it will sound rude."

Easily recognizing the hesitant tone and awkward wording she'd memorized over the past few years, Emily replied with an understanding smile, "I'm clean. I've never had anything." She almost added "surprisingly" but wisely thought better of it.

"Oh," Alison's eyes froze wide open in shock that Emily anticipated her dreaded, but necessary question.

"Uhhh…" Emily worried she might have just offered unsolicited information. "You were going to ask that, right?"

"Yeah," the blonde fiddled with the bottom of her girlfriend's top. "I'm sorry."

Pecking Alison on the forehead, Emily said, "Don't be. It's a valid question. Do you want me to get tested again?" She offered while turning out of Alison's embrace toward the stove to flip on the eye to start boiling the water. "I have some free time tomorrow."

Standing behind Emily, the blonde wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist and chuckled, "Why do I find you more attractive for asking that?"

With Alison attached to her back, Emily shuffled to the pantry. "I have super powers."

As Emily retrieved the box of macaroni, Alison kissed the back of her neck and replied, "Don't get tested." She awkwardly stumbled with Emily back to the counter. "I believe you." When the brunette set down the box, Alison spun the woman around and reminded with two fingers walking up Emily's chest, "You know, this is only relevant if we're having sex."

Emily gulped and nodded to the living room, "There's a little person in the other room, babe. Keep it PG."

Sliding her hands into Emily's back pockets, Alison replied, "I think I can get away with saying that I really want you inside me."

"Not PG!"

Alison squeezed and purred, "She doesn't know what we're talking about."

Shaking her head, Emily disagreed, "She's smarter than you think."

"Oh," the blonde chirped innocently as her hands reappeared and pushed Emily into the counter. "She would know what it means if I say I want to taste you?"

"Holy sh—" Emily gasped and swallowed the expletive for Auri's sake. "Stop it, Ali."

The blonde trailed kisses up Emily's neck, "I'm not doing anything."

"Tease."

"Are you wet right now?" Alison asked letting her tongue glide against Emily's skin as she spoke.

"Alison," the brunette grabbed her relentless girlfriend by the chin and jerked her face to the living room. "Auri is right there."

With hands sliding up Emily's shirt, the blonde insisted, "Baby, she doesn't know what it means. Answer me."

"Alison…" Emily warned.

"Emmy!"

"Auri!" Emily yelped far too enthusiastically at the tiny voice attached to the body of the beaming girl who jumped into the room.

Covering her ears, the girl said, "Don't yell, Emmy. I'm right here."

"Yeah babe," Alison smirked stepping back. "Don't yell."

As Emily scowled, Auri stood on her tip toes and frowned at the lack of food, "When can I eat?"

The brunette heaved the girl onto a counter far away from the stove and replied with a smile, "It'll be just a few more minutes."

Eyes bouncing between the two women, Auri asked, "What are you guys doing?"

"Talking," Emily replied leaning against the counter beside the girl.

"About what?" Auri tapped Emily's hand resting beside her leg.

Illusively, the brunette teased, "Stuff."

Glaring and jamming her hands into her own lap, the inquisitive girl took a wild guess, "Special friend stuff?"

"That's exactly what we're talking about," Alison replied in a congratulatory tone.

Pleased to have the blonde's attention, Auri asked, "Do you like being Emmy's special friend?"

The brunette smiled as Alison nodded to the girl, "I do."

"Good!" Auri patted her own thighs and grinned up at her friend, "Emmy is nice."

Poking the three year old in the stomach, Emily replied, "Yeah, I know."

The girl snagged the woman's hand and said to Alison, "Mommy told me how nice Emmy was when I was a baby."

"Pfftt," the brunette scoffed wiggling her hand free. "You're still a baby."

Instead of arguing, the girl merely shook her head, "You're funny."

"I'm hilarious," Emily agreed. She clutched her little friend under her arms and plopped her onto the floor. "Why don't you take your baby self into the dining room. I think your crayons are on the table."

Alison walked next to Emily and slid an arm around her waist, "She's not a baby, Em."

"Thank you!" Auri beamed at Alison's agreement. She pointed at the blonde and informed Emily, "She's nice like you." Clasping her hands together, the girl requested, "Can you please keep her a long time?"

Emily forced her body not to react. With Alison pressed to her side, not even a twitch would go unnoticed. She replied simply, "That's the plan. Go color." She shooed the girl with her hands, "Skedaddle."

"Skedaddle?" the blonde laughed pecking her on the cheek as the girl ran to her beloved crayons.

"It's a funny word."

"So…" the blonde slowly turned the brunette toward her and inquired, "The plan is to keep me a long time?"

"Eh," Emily shrugged, "We'll see how I feel in the morning."

Alison trailed two fingers down Emily's cheek and whispered with a small smile, "You know you suck at lying right?"

The brunette cupped Alison's face and nodded warmly, "I know."

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"What the shit!" Emily jolted on her couch at the pounding on her front door. "Oww!" she winced when one foot flailed and smacked into her coffee table. She pushed herself to her feet and limped to the wooden door with what sounded like a battering ram on the other side. When she swung open the door, every happy thought shattered at her feet. "Duncan… what are you—?"

"Where the hell is she?" he shoved her aside and stomped past her. He was foaming at the mouth barely reigning in his soon to be stampede of fury.

He knows. He already knows! Unable to turn and admit the truth that would destroy their friendship, she offered innocently to the empty doorway, "Where is who?"

"Cut the shit, Em," he smacked his hand over her head against the door slamming it shut. "Her car is in your driveway."

Emily toppled against the door, which shook from the force of his rage. As her friend backed away, she pressed her forehead into the wood. None of the fifty nightmarish versions of this encounter she'd been playing in her head on a loop began like this. It took every ounce of willpower to turn and look at him, "Duncan…"

She swallowed as he beat his right fist against the side of his leg. She remembered that he only did that when he felt like putting his giant hand through a wall. "Is it true?" He paused to wet his mouth parched from screaming obscenities in his car for the last ten minutes. "Are you fucking her?"

"What?" Her last stab at ignorance tore into her lungs as she asked faintly, "Why would you—"

"Paige is always full of interesting news."

"Fuck Paige," Emily scoffed.

"Em," a concerned voice drifted from around the corner. "What's going—Duncan." Emily's girlfriend gasped with her head whipping back and forth between Emily propped against the door and Duncan fuming a few yards from the brunette.

Duncan nodded at Alison with sarcastic shock, "I'm surprised you have clothes on. Em is usually—"

"Dude, let's not go there." Emily had no intention of this conversation straying into her past. "You're pissed because I'm your friend and—"

"That's right! You're my friend, Emily." His entire body recoiled from the stench of betrayal oozing from Emily's skin, as he waved toward his ex, "How could you do this to me?"

"Duncan," Alison stepped into the fray. "It's not her fault."

"Stay out of this Alison!" He snapped at her and batted away the defense of the brunette as his eyes bored into Emily. "You've done more than enough."

"Watch it," Emily warned finally detaching her previously trembling body from the door.

He crossed his arms and chuckled, "So you're sticking up for her now? That's a switch."

"Just—"

"I already took enough shit from you two years ago." He tossed his hands in the air still reeling with disbelief, "This can't be happening! I thought I had you back. I thought we were friends again!"

"Please," Emily folded her hands and bounced them in front of her as she begged, "Please just let me explain. I'm so sorry."

He tilted up his head and stared down on Emily's small 5'8" frame. He rolled his tongue between his teeth as he reduced her to a heartless backstabber with his eyes. "Fuck your 'sorry's. And fuck you."

"Hey!" Alison snapped.

Still looking at the infuriated Duncan, Emily held up a hand to her girlfriend several feet away, "Alison. Don't."

Oblivious to Alison's concern, Duncan yelled, "What the hell did I do to you that would make you—"

"Nothing!" Emily desperately assured. "You've never done anything!"

He raised an eyebrow, "So you got bored of screwing single girls so you—"

"It's not like that," the brunette insisted.

"I love her!" he cried out with a heart splintering into pieces.

When Emily's jaw merely dropped in response to his pain, Alison walked toward the two, "Duncan, you and I have nothing to do with her."

He glared, "That's bullshit, Ali."

"No, it's not. I—"

"You left me for my best friend!" the man roared as he pointed downward and rammed his finger toward the ground for emphasis. "This has everything to do with her! The least you could do is not lie to my fucking face."

The blonde explained calmly, "I should have broken up with you long before I met her. I shouldn't have said yes when you proposed. I was confused and scared and—"

"Well," Duncan interrupted with a smirk. "You have Emily to un-confuse you and make you feel better. I know she's really good at it. Aren't you Em?"

Slowly shaking her head, Emily growled, "You don't wanna go this route." She could already hear low blows and insults queuing up in her brain. "Please don't." From her perch on the high ground, she teetered on the side of the cliff as she stared down at the low ground.

Pacing, Duncan asked his ex, "Do you realize who you're getting involved with, Alison?"

Emily tried to still her hands shaking with a growing irritation as she crossed her arms. He was baiting her. She breathed steadily hoping the rhythm would douse the flares of anger. "Duncan, seriously. We don't need to fight like this."

"I'm trying to protect her."

"From what?" Emily spat with one foot hovering over the edge of the cliff begging the other to follow suit.

"You!" Duncan swung a finger in the brunette's direction. "Did I really need to answer that question? You're a fucking train wreck."

Emily hurled herself from the safety of reason into the abyss of exhilarating verbal devastation. She didn't see red. She didn't see anything. Blind with rage, she shouted as if slapping him in the face. "She doesn't want you! Just fucking admit it and stop blaming me!"

Pleased with the brunette's explosion, he tucked his thumbs in his back pockets and puffed out his chest, "You always did like to gloat."

"And you always liked to pout."

He stomped forward and froze two feet from Emily, "When you screwed other girls before me?"

"Yeah!" she blurted up at his face five inches above hers. "Which happened all the time." She smirked as her face smacked into the unforgiving ground of the low road soaked in mud. She was right where Duncan wanted her. The more mud they slung and rocks they hurled, the less Emily looked like an innocent bystander in Alison's eyes.

"Fuck you!" Duncan snarled.

Snickering, Emily replied, "That's what you would say." The context of the argument faded into a pointless battle with she and Duncan exchanging debilitating personal attacks. She smiled remembering that she always won.

"Congratulations, slut. You closed deals before I did."

"Aww," the brunette poked out her lip tossing an imaginary stone of malice between her hands. "Is there a little bite with that pout? Cute."

"I should thank you for weeding out the bad lays." He pelted her in the head with a reminder of her reputation for low standards.

Hurling a stone at his knee, she chuckled, "Says the scorned lover."

"I never pegged you for a bitch who would steal my fiancé out from under me."

Emily flung mud at his chest, tilted her head and beamed with pride as mud poured down her arms dripping onto her feet, "I didn't have to work very hard."

"Both of you, stop it!" Alison ordered shoving them away from each other by the shoulder.

"No, let her go, Alison," Duncan said backing away further on his own. "Maybe she'll show you how little she cares about her 'girlfriends'."

Still trapped in an alternate reality with two friends barraging each other for the hell of it, Emily scoffed, "Oh because you were a fucking gentleman and man of honor in college? You wanna count how many sloppy seconds we exchanged?"

"I can't hear this," Alison mumbled to the floor cringing at the sound of the words 'sloppy seconds' easily sliding off of Emily's lips. Although loud enough for Emily to hear, Alison's words fell on ears deaf from constant mockery.

"I grew the fuck up, Emily," Duncan replied. "I've been in a relationship." He spoke the word slowly as if it was foreign to the brunette. "What have you been doing? Or wait—who have you been doing?"

Chucking another rock in Duncan's face, Emily taunted, "At least no one left me for someone else."

"Emily!" Alison latched onto her girlfriend's right arm and commanded, "Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

Emily tumbled back to reality. Alison was standing there. She'd been standing there the entire time, while Emily viciously whacked Duncan with reminders of her superior sexual prowess. She was coated in the filth of her purposefully revoltingly painted image of her past as well as his. As fury pounded in her head, the disbelief in Alison's eyes cut into her chest. The torrent of emotional and physical pain crippled her speech as she tried to apologize.

Triumphantly, Duncan chuckled as Alison stared at her girlfriend with disappointment, "Told you. She doesn't care much."

Emily kicked her girlfriend's name from her paralyzed lungs, "Ali…"

"Same old Emily," the man shrugged.

Emily ignored the jeering man and begged Alison for understanding as she squeezed the hand on her right arm, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… I can't keep talking."

"Nothing else to say?" Duncan sniggered.

"Oh, I've got plenty to say," Emily glared clinging to her girlfriend's hand. "But I'll regret every single fucking word."

With Emily curled up in surrender on the low road, Duncan clawed his way up the wall to the high road and offered, "Alison, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to go this way."

"Fuck yes you did!" the brunette threw off the blonde's hand as she boiled in a rage renewed by Duncan's abrupt shift in tactics. "This is exactly what you wanted."

"Em," Alison whispered, "Calm—"

"Don't be all self-righteous now," the brunette growled at the smirking man.

His voice quiet but calculated, Duncan said, "You'll just treat her like all the other girls."

"God!" she rolled her eyes. His accusation blended with so many others she'd heard over the years. "There haven't been that many girls." She sprung his carefully laid trap.

"Oh really?" Duncan stepped forward and challenged, "Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind saying how many. Alison has a strong stomach." Emily didn't dare look at her girlfriend. "Do you even remember their names?"

Acid curdled in Emily's stomach. Although numb to this method of abuse, she knew Alison was struggling with this aspect of her past. She hugged herself praying for a reprieve.

Duncan spat out a list, "High school girls, college girls, girls in their thirties and forties… were there any professors?"

"Just stop!" Emily yelped. "That doesn't matter now."

"It makes you a sl—"

"You better not say that fucking word again," Alison snapped.

"Since when do you think that I'm a slut?" Emily breathed. "You weren't like this in college. You respected me."

"Yeah, well you weren't fucking up relationships in college."

"That is not what happened here," Alison insisted.

"If you're worried about Alison," the brunette finally contributed something constructive to the 'conversation'. "She's different from everyone else." Even though her heart screamed for a brief glance, she couldn't look at Alison. She felt dirty as if her words were tainted by the last few minutes of her cruel verbal assault. "I'm not messing with her. I'm not lying to her. I'm not using her. I really want to be with her."

"That doesn't mean that you're any different than you were." He continued in a nauseating tone, "Have you managed not to fuck anyone else but her? You didn't always like just one—"

"Fuck you, you fucking asshole!" Emily screamed. He could call her a slut until his lungs were raw, but he couldn't accuse her of cheating on Alison. With her unintentional help, he was twisting her past and contorting it into a grotesque figure. With every foul insinuation and blatant accusation, he waved the figure into her and Alison's faces.

"Emily," Alison whispered.

"We haven't even slept…"

"Em," Alison repeated this time brushing her fingers down Emily's arm.

"Good for you," Duncan sneered. "You still have some fucking morals."

"I couldn't until I told you," the brunette answered calmly.

When Duncan's posture softened, Emily breathed a sigh of relief optimistically thinking the dust had settled to allow for a calmer but still emotional conversation. To her dismay, the man pried, "So you haven't touched her?" Both Alison and Emily glared at him not with guilt but with an overwhelming revulsion. "Not at all? Not even—"

"Don't be fucking disgusting," Emily growled.

Momentarily done with Emily, who was still reeling from their verbal onslaught, Duncan warned his ex, "She'll be done with you after she fucks you a few times."

"I don't believe you," Alison replied firmly.

"That's what she does, Ali," he waved his hand as if explaining the obvious.

"Not to me."

He cocked an eyebrow and rolled through Emily's old tricks, "So she didn't lure you in with her sarcastic charms? Or maybe hook you with her big brown eyes and act all mysterious? What about the jealousy stunt? She loves doing that." Emily flinched as Alison blinked away the flashes of doubt from her eyes. Cruelly he continued, "You're just a game, Alison. She's just putting more effort into you than she usually does."

Emily didn't know whether to reach out to Alison or give her space. The only thing she could do was repeat herself, "Like I said before, I'm not messing with her. I want to be with her. I need her. I—"

"I don't want to fucking hear this," Duncan scoffed.

"Everyone is hearing shit they don't want to hear," the brunette sighed heavily hoping the belligerent man might be willing to listen. "We used to tell each other everything. We never pulled punches. I haven't met anyone since Maya that—" Alison must have seen her body wavering as she pulled Emily to her side and rubbed comforting circles on her back. "You know how Maya was and how we were together. She wanted to marry me." The typically painful admission dripping with guilt fell from her lips with minimal discomfort. She had yet to realize that the woman holding her tightly helped to ease the pain every day. "That would have been it for me. No more dating, no more anything with anyone but her. I didn't think I deserved to find that again or maybe something even better."

"So I'm supposed to be thrilled that Alison miraculously restored your faith in love or whatever the hell else?" Just as vulnerable as Emily, he said, "She broke my heart and now you're…" He gestured weakly at Alison on her arm.

"I'm so, so sorry."

He recalled with a voice tinged with defeat, "You listened to me on the phone. You let me scream and cry while you acted like a supportive friend with zero feelings for Alison."

"It killed me," the brunette replied with both Duncan and Alison in mind.

With eyes devoid of sympathy, he said, "I don't give a shit about your feelings right now."

Tears began welling in Emily's eyes. The shock of the past few minutes dissipated and the reality of their crumbling friendship stared her in the face. She had taken a baseball bat and shattered a carefully constructed glass house of trust they had built together with blood, sweat and tears. They had screamed unforgivable things at one another, but every word stemmed from despair and a twisted outburst of deep affection. One specific trait contributed to their unrelenting attacks. They were fighters and they fought hard for what they loved. There weren't any rules and they came armed to the teeth. The same look of defeat flickered behind their eyes. Bleeding, battered and bruised, one of them just needed to end it.

"I'm sorry for everything."

He shook his head, "That won't ever be good enough. And you," he threw his gaze at Alison and swept her from head to toe, "I don't want anything from you. You can screw my best friend with a clear conscience."

Pulling away from Emily to make her own supplication, the blonde said, "Duncan, I—"

"Just shut up, you bi—"

"Shut the fuck up!" Emily rallied for one last skirmish despite her gaping emotional wounds. "You've said enough about her. I shouldn't have let you say any of it. I swear to god if you—"

"What are you gonna do, Em?"

"Stop! Both of you!" Alison intervened for what felt like the hundredth time. She stepped in front of her girlfriend and said, "Duncan, I didn't leave you for Emily. I left because it was wrong for me to stay in a relationship with you when I knew that I didn't feel the same way that you did. You're an amazing, kind, strong—"

"Fuck that!"

Emily tried to side step Alison as she warned, "Don't talk to her like—"

"Em," the blonde glanced to her right while holding Emily behind her. "Please stop." When the brunette conceded with a huff, she elaborated, "There isn't a nice way to put this. Duncan, it took me so long to leave you because I couldn't convince myself to walk away from someone who loved me so much. I'm sorry that—"

"Please don't say anymore," he held out his right hand while burying his face in his left. "I can't hear any more shit from you two."

"Fine, there's the door," Emily swept aside pointing to the exit. She was done fighting. Everyone had lost. Apologies weren't good enough and she couldn't beat the air any longer or make Alison pull them apart again. She had demoted Alison to a referee rather than including her in what should have been an argument devoid of cheapening Alison to a prize pony.

"Wow," Duncan crossed his arms, "What happened to 'I'm sorry'?"

"It doesn't even mean anything at this point."

"So that's it? You're fine with all of this bullshit?"

"No!" Emily snapped. "I'm pissed because of this stupid fucking argument and even more pissed that I fucked up my relationship with you again." She shook her head and shrugged with disbelief. "And there's nothing I can do about it this time."

"Yeah," the man nodded and noted pointedly, "This time. Two years ago, you told me to fuck off. Maya, your girlfriend and one of my best friends, died. You wouldn't even talk to me after that night." His voice cracked. His face was smeared with the newly revived pain. "You blamed me. You weren't the only one hurting." He stomped forward thrusting a finger toward her. "I needed you and you weren't there."

"I fucked up," she agreed with eyes flooded with regret. "I know I did."

"And now this…" he sighed. "You're breaking me, Em."

She grabbed his right hand and squeezed, "Tell me what I can do to fix it."

A full ten seconds of silence sucked the air out of the room before he whispered as a plea, "Let her go."

"I can't," she dropped his hand and shuffled backward. "I'm really sorry."

"Fuck you both," he spat.

"Duncan," Alison offered, "Can I just—"

"No," he snarled and added with every ounce of resentment he had built up in his heart, "Have fun fucking the used up whore who killed her girlfriend."

Alison smacked the tall man across the face and yelled, "Get the fuck out!"

Paralyzed, Emily hung her head barely hearing Duncan as he wrapped his fingers around the doorknob, "I hope you're happy, Emily."

"Out! Now!" Alison roared physically pushing Duncan out of the door and slamming it behind him.

Alison was seething. Her chest tightened as her ribcage choked her lungs and her face blazed as blood boiled in her cheeks. Processing the last few minutes was impossible. She shoved rational thought out the door with her demeaning and unfeeling ex-fiancé. The deceitful serenity hanging in the air mocked the vicious tornado of anger and hurt swirling inside her and ripping up buildings by their foundations and trees by their roots.

Unlike her girlfriend, Emily stared blankly at the door without a hint of emotion in her face. Her upper body drooped forward and her arms hung limp at her sides. She appeared to be asleep on her feet, blinking only occasionally and breathing calmly and rhythmically. Started by the lack of reaction, Alison inquired quietly, "Em?"

Emily neither blinked nor flinched.

"Baby, are you okay?"

Emily opened her mouth and swallowed as if wiping a bad taste from her tastebuds.

"Emily?" Alison tried again softly.

Although not tearing her gaze from the door, Emily asked, "Should I ask you if you're okay too?"

Smiling at the angelic innocence in her girlfriend's voice, Alison locked the deadbolt on the front door and replied, "I really don't know." When the blonde turned, Emily wrapped her arms tightly around Alison's waist and buried her face into her shoulder. As Emily stepped in closer and nuzzled into her neck, Alison hugged her tightly and kissed her lightly on the head.

"I don't know what just happened," Emily mumbled into Alison's skin.

At the sound of the meekness in Emily's voice, a light fluttering chased the anger from her chest. Emily's plunge from a sharp tongued attacker to weakened victim stunned her with its unfamiliarity. The grieving Emily she comforted weeks ago was borderline hysterical and the apologetic Emily was humble yet confident. This was another thing entirely; Emily spoke to her differently and clung to her differently. While in full control of herself, albeit dented by insults, the brunette chose to strip away her layers of sarcasm and brashness. Alison savored the moment knowing Emily wouldn't let it last very long. She stroked her hair, "You know you're not the things he said, right?"

Emily answered silently, nodding into her girlfriend's shoulder.

"And I know you're not those things."

The brunette acknowledged again with a nod.

Alison's hands caressed Emily's back and she sighed, "And I know you didn't mean to say some of those things."

"I didn't," Emily agreed lifting her head and leaning back. She looked intently into Alison's eyes, "I am so sorry." As she spoke, her gaze dropped to the blonde's lips. She hesitated in leaning forward as if she had forfeited her right to kiss her girlfriend when she verbally beat Duncan over the head with a slew of crude attacks. When Alison eagerly pressed her lips to Emily's, the brunette sighed with relief and she melted into her girlfriend's arms.

Emily followed Alison's lead as their kiss lingered in the chaste, languid territory. When the blonde parted her lips and teeth, Emily waited in anticipation for her girlfriend's tongue to sweep into her mouth. Alison's soothed Emily's fears with every gentle movement and Emily replied with whimpers.

After a few minutes, Emily reluctantly tore her lips from Alison's to apologize with her lips on the blonde's cheek and neck. Kiss by kiss, she begged for forgiveness and understanding. Hoping her offering was worthy, she brushed her lips up Alison's throat and chin to her mouth and hovered, "I think I'm cursed with the crazy ability to say the wrong things."

The blonde kissed her nose, "It's a good thing I'm so forgiving." Emily cocked an eyebrow at the blonde's sweeping declaration. While Alison didn't keep record of wrongs as she did in high school and college, she was far from a blindly forgiving saint. She pecked Emily's lips and corrected, "In your case, at least."

"I need a lot of it," the brunette stressed the word and rolled her eyes, annoyed with her propensity to say or do exactly what she shouldn't. "Is there such a thing as too much forgiveness?" She smirked and joked, "Do you have a threshold I should be worried about? Ya know, so I can get as close to it as possible."

Alison's sweet and vulnerable Emily had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind her witty, playful girlfriend in its place. It didn't bother her in the slightest. She adored the starkly different hues of her girlfriend's personality. Oddly, Alison drew strength from their peppering of flaws and weaknesses. Nothing made Alison more insecure that surrendering herself to a perfect person. Emily's slew of women rocked her confidence at times, but the blending of her faults and strengths steadied Alison and their relationship.

She pressed her lips to Emily's and murmured, "If there is, I'll let you know."

Emily responded with an almost giddy exhale of relief. She unlatched Alison's locked hands behind her back and led her girlfriend into her living room by the hand. She plopped onto the center cushion of her sectional and patted a spot on her right. When Alison sat down, the brunette scooted to the left and lowered her head into Alison's lap. After a lot of reaching, flailing, squirming, grunting and the blonde chuckling, Emily snagged the TV remote from the edge of the coffee table.

As Emily snuggled into Alison's lap, the blonde joked, "That would have been much easier if you just sat up."

"Yeah, yeah," the brunette replied shoving the remote into Alison's chest.

"Why do I have this?" the blonde gestured with the thick black block.

"Because I'm going to lay here quietly and if you just sit there and stare at me, I'll get majorly freaked out."

"Oh, so you're assuming I would creepily stare at you?" Alison mashed a button, the large screen lit up and the speakers trembled. As she turned down the volume, the blonde said, "The TV is much more entertaining."

Grinning, Emily grabbed her compliant girlfriend's left hand, kissed the top if it and draped it over her side.

Neither of the women paid attention to the screen. They saw colors and heard sounds, but their visual and auditory senses were occupied with looping their version of the past thirty minutes. Alison's hand eventually drifted down to Emily's stomach and met with Emily's own left hand. As the brunette always did, she unconsciously played with Alison's fingers while the blonde's unoccupied hand occasionally brushed through Emily's hair.

The minutes trickled by as the women relaxed silently in each other's embrace. Alison barely noticed when Emily's body shifted as she assumed the brunette was merely adjusting to get more comfortable. That innocent thought vanished when she felt wet pecks on her left knee. Although her entire body failed to respond immediately, her eyes snapped down and her jaw slackened as she watched her girlfriend's fingers slide up under her dress with her lips creeping behind them.

The blonde gasped when Emily pinned the bottom edge of her cotton dress to her hips, scooted and crouched over Alison's lap. Trapped air in Alison's lungs finally forced itself out with a cough. "What are you doing…" Emily sucked and bit her upper thighs, dangerously close to her panty line. "You better not be teasing," Alison whimpered as every nerve on her thighs came alive and reacted to the feeling of Emily's teeth and tongue on her skin.

Emily's next few movements blurred together and Alison could only blink in those few seconds. The brunette sat up and kicked over the coffee table. While the dark wooden table tipped over and smashed into the carpeted floor scattering books, magazines, coasters and two water glasses, she glided off the couch and dropped to her knees in front of the blonde. Her hands locked around Alison's thighs and she yanked her ass to the edge of the cushion with a grunt. Leaving white imprints of her hands on the pale skin, she easily pulled off Alison's lace panties and tossed them to the side. While Alison struggled to prop herself up on her hands, Emily pushed the dress up to the blonde's stomach and without a word or a glance, she plunged her mouth down onto a shocked Alison.

"Holy fu—" the blonde gasped at the sudden contact unable to even finish the four letter word as her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip. Less than a minute ago, Emily lay contently in her lap and now her lips were wrapped around her clit. Alison threw her head into the back of the couch and breathed, "Holy shit, Em."

With the unexpected and sudden shift in mood, Alison's body took a few seconds to react to her girlfriend's tongue teasing the outside of her core. Not deterred, Emily dipped inside anticipating her girlfriend's response. The faint tingles and vague heat between her thighs exploded into sharp throbs and consuming fire. Both women moaned as the blonde's arousal spread across Emily's tongue. Alison panted watching Emily purposefully drench her tongue, coat her lips and wet her tongue again.

"Thank god," the brunette moaned lapping against her girlfriend.

"What?" the blonde managed through a sharp inhale.

Smirking, Emily crawled up over Alison and purred, "You taste so good." She cupped the blonde's chin in her right hand and poked her thumb and index finger into Alison's cheeks forcing Alison's lips apart to form a fish face. Emily chuckled at the sight as she dropped her hand, pressed her lips to Alison's and tapped her tongue against the blonde's teeth.

When Alison allowed her entrance, the brunette immediately sought out Alison's tongue and shared the delectable taste with her girlfriend. Although her eyelids were closed, Alison's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she moaned Emily's name into her mouth. After a few seconds of the brunette's tongue sweeping within her mouth, Emily pulled away and darted back down to Alison who was even warmer and wetter than before.

"Mmmm, Em," Alison moaned and shivered when the tip of Emily's tongue flicked against her clit. With every nerve ablaze, Emily's tongue seemed to be everywhere at once, alternating between pressing into her clit, tracing the length of her slit and dipping inside her. "Shit!" Alison squealed and squirmed whenever Emily hummed into her.

When the brunette roughly wrenched Alison's legs from her head for the fifth time, she bit down on the blonde's clit. "Fucking shit!" Alison gasped at the attack of Emily's teeth and hands. Aside from small moans, Emily quietly worked her tongue skillfully and diligently to draw out a symphony of sensual notes of pleasure from her girlfriend's lungs and throat.

"No talking?" the blonde panted. During their foreplay sessions, the woman had been anything but silent as she riddled the air with erotic whispers of encouragement.

Lifting her eyes but not her head, Emily smirked, "And not hear you? Fuck that."

The blonde bit her lip and shuddered at her girlfriend's sultry admission of her newfound obsession with every sound leaving her lips. She moaned louder and jerked her hips higher when Emily sucked hard on her clit.

Suddenly, Alison felt Emily's tongue flapping haphazardly against her. The brunette was panting and swallowing whimpers. When she noticed Emily's hand no longer on her thigh nor visible at all, she craned her body to the left. Emily's right hand was tucked into her unzipped jeans pumping in and out.

"Hey!" the blonde exclaimed pushing herself into a sitting position. "That's cheating."

Emily glanced up with a face crinkled with determination and strained pleasure, "Fuck, Ali. Have you heard what you sound like? I can't help it."

After checking, Alison threw herself off the couch and tackled her girlfriend to the ground. When she peeked down at Emily's jeans, she slapped at the brunette's head, "Stop it!" When Alison glanced up and studied the woman's face, she licked her lips and guessed aloud at the reason why Emily refused to move her hand, "You're close aren't you?"

With wide black eyes, Emily muttered, "Umm yeah." Encouraged by the faint, guttural response, the blonde hastily yanked at the coarse material hugging Emily's thighs until Emily yelped, "For fuck's sake, stop trying to take off my pants and touch me!"

The sharp demand jolted the blonde's attention to the unquenched desire painfully pulsing between her own legs. She slinked further up for a better angle and wiggled Emily's hand out of her pants. Her fingers quickly replaced Emily's and she moaned as her fingers swam against Emily's core. "Finally," she sighed savoring the feeling as her fingers slid against the brunette's wet heat making Emily twitch and groan with pleasure.

When she pushed two fingers inside, Emily gasped as a plea, "No, no. Not deep. Just—" The simple words were enough. Alison's fingers retreated and rubbed Emily's clit vigorously. The blonde felt her girlfriend vibrating at her touch as her voice crescendoed, "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Her hands flew to Alison's neck and ten fingertips dug into the back. Her hips jerked up and she tipped over the edge moaning the blonde's name, "Alison. Alison. Shit."

Letting her girlfriend ride out the tremors, her fingers slowed. "No, no! Don't stop. Look at me," Emily begged. Although her right arm tingled, Alison ignored the shoots of pain and renewed the speed of her strokes. She gazed down at Emily and moaned at the haze of desire that draped over her girlfriend's eyes.

When Emily's breathing hitched and her lower body twitched, Alison gasped at her girlfriend's climb to her second orgasm, "Oh my god… Emily."

"Say it again," Emily moaned as her hips bucked into Alison's hand as they had a few seconds before.

"Emily," Alison murmured staring straight into the brunette's eyes as Emily panted.

Almost instantly, Emily yelped as her eyes squeezed shut, "Christ!" She gulped down air. When her hips slammed into the ground, Alison slowed her fingers and lightly brushed over Emily's tender flesh. "Ali…" the brunette breathed out heavily and then choked on each word, "Okay. Please. Stop." Her arms crashed to the floor on either side of her.

The blonde pulled out her hand leaving a wet trail along Emily's stomach. She propped herself up with both hands and stared down with wide eyes and parted lips, "That is the hottest thing I've ever seen."

Emily flung her arms over her face as she wheezed and coughed. The blonde rolled onto her left side and drew circles on Emily's stomach waiting for her girlfriend's body to recover. The woman panted unevenly, "I knew—that—would happen." When she uncrossed her arms to find Alison beside her, she cajoled, "Hey. Get back on me."

Not arguing, the blonde climbed back on top and Emily started frantically trying to tug Alison's dress over her head. "Please get that off," the exhausted brunette gave up after only a few seconds. She turned her attention to her own clothes and yanked at her jeans. Easily sliding off her dress, Alison couldn't help but chuckle at the desperate woman wriggling under her. When Emily started grunting and whining, the blonde took pity on her girlfriend, leaned down and tugged off her jeans and panties.

Before she had a moment to stare between Emily's thighs, the brunette pulled her up by the chin, quickly unsnapped her bra and rolled her onto her back. Alison could see Emily's eyes bobble in her head at the quick motion. "Babe, you're going to pass out."

Fighting to steady her labored breathing, the brunette sat up, ripped off her shirt and bra and bent back down with a smile. "Not a chance."

She started to lower her lips to Alison's neck, but the blonde's hand pushing on her shoulder denied her the pleasure. "No way," Alison refused. "Give me a second." She shimmed down until Emily's breasts hung above her mouth.

When her fingers wrapped around Emily's nipples, Emily's head snapped down and she grunted, "Fuck, Alison." After only a few seconds, Alison's tongue begged to roll against one of Emily's hard nipples and flick the tiny balls of the protruding barbell. With her hands on Emily's back, the blonde pulled her girlfriend's right breast to her mouth. As soon as the jewelry bumped against Alison's teeth on its way into her mouth, Emily hissed, "I knew it."

The blonde smiled at Emily's reference to her previous statement of anticipation for Alison's teeth to scratch against her piercings. However, Alison determined that's not exactly what Emily meant. She turned her head slightly, tucked both ends of the sterling silver barbell between her teeth and gently tugged. "Holy fucking shit!" Emily jerked and almost fell on top of Alison.

With Emily's nipple still in her mouth, Alison chuckled, "God, I love these already."

Am I forgiven? :)

Fair warning, it's American Thanksgiving this week so real life will most definitely interfere with my writing. Sorry :(

You'll be glad to hear that the next chapter picks up right where this one left off.

Hope you guys liked it!

Thanks to MysticalGoddessOfWords for double checking parts of this. :)

update 12/25/14 - Just fyi. I'm not dropping this story, so have no fear. It's just not enjoyable for me to write linearly so I'm bouncing all around writing it. I'll get the rest of the story put together and start posting when I can. There's good stuff to come. I promise. My apologies! I treasure all your reviews and send out many virtual hugs :)