The One

Chapter 22: Coffee For Four

Alison's POV

<Three Days Later>

"Em baby, it's time to wake up. Come on sleeping beauty, get your lazy booty up" I say as I try to shake my girlfriend awake.

"Nooooo! 5 more minutes!" Emily says, pulling the covers over her head and curling into a little ball.

"You said that hours ago"

"Ugh. Waking up this early should be against the law. Why the hell are you always up so early anyways?" Em whined.

"It's complicated. Now come on, you have to help me get things ready for this date" I say avoiding her question.

"You know that's not a nice way of asking me out on a date, right? Where are we going anyways?" She asks, finally coming out from underneath the covers.

"It's not for us. You and I are setting Spencer and Aria up, and CeCe is spending the day with Hanna to keep her busy. We're just going to make sure they have a good time" I answer her.

"Whhhyy?"

"Because they like each other, they're just too scared to do anything about it. So we're going to help them out"

"Everyone knows they like each other. I meant why are we helping them out?" Em asks giving me a weird look. I hope that's not a look of anger. I probably should have asked for her permission before dragging her into this.

"Because they're our friends, and I want them happy and together like how we used to be" I answer looking down at the ground.

Emily then stays quiet for a few minutes. I seriously thought she was mad at me. It was when I turned around, about to exit our bedroom, that I felt her wrap her arms around my waist from behind to keep me in place.

"I'm sorry babe" my girlfriend whispers into my ear as she starts kissing my neck.

"Mmm for what baby?" I moan out.

"For yelling at you. I was mad. I kinda didn't mean it" Em says. Did she just say kinda? What was that supposed to mean? "You know I love you Ali" she then adds as she lowers her hand into my pajama shorts, over my panties and begins to rub light circles on my core slowly.

I'm not gonna lie. I was loving finally having some sort of physical contact with my girl after weeks of barely talking. So I took my opportunity and slowly started to grind myself into her front while her hand kept rubbing me harder each time.

I was about to completely give in. Well, that was until I remembered what she said moments prior. I couldn't get that word out of my mind. Kinda. Was she just using me to get sex right now? I didn't know what to believe, so I did what was best. I had to pull away from her.

"Em baby, not now. We have to get going. You know how anal Spencer is about being punctual" I said using that as an excuse. Truth is, I just didn't want to get used. I still wanted to talk to Emily and see what was really going on with us. Mostly importantly with her though.

"God Ali! You're never fun anymore!" She shouted before heading into the master bathroom and slamming the door.

Okay yeah, now that really hurt.

Hearing her say that is starting to make me think that maybe I'm just way in over my head. And what if we might not be meant for each other?

*****

<Later that Afternoon at The Brew>

"Aria honey, don't get scared okay? It's only a small coffee date. Just be yourself and pretend we're all here getting lunch as friends. Everything will be just fine okay?" I say to a very nervous Aria.

"Can you please stop tapping your stubby little hands on the table already? You're starting to give me a headache" an irritated Emily adds in.

"I would but I'm worried. What if she says no? Are you guys sure she's coming? And Em what does my size even have to do with anything?" Aria answers.

"That even for your small size, you still manage to give me a huge ass headache" Em says under her breath starting to make me worried. What if she gets mad and ruins this for the girls? I really hope that's not the case.

Just then Spencer walks in and joins us at the table. "Hey Spencer, thanks for joining us" I greet her trying to break the tension in the room.

"Spence, I ordered you your usual. I hope that's okay?" a nervous Aria asks.

"Yeah thanks. How did you even know what my usual is?" Spencer asks with a smile a quirked up eyebrow.

"I pay attention" Aria responds I'm a flirty tone with a wink. Well that was quick.

As they got into a deep conversation about some movie they were both excited to go see, I glance to my right and see Em texting away on her phone. I couldn't help but feel a little sad and definitely ignored.

I was then just minding my own business and drinking my coffee in pure silence when I noticed Aria give me the special signal we came up with prior to this group date. So I decided to ask Em to come with me and help me get us all some desserts.

"Ali, why did you ask me to come with you when you didn't even need my help?" Em asks me, still clearly irritated with me.

"I-I just wanted us to give them some privacy. I didn't want to ruin it when Aria asked Spencer out. Besides, we can all use a little dessert to liven up the day" I answer quietly.

"Fine" was all she said.

After I paid, I grabbed our slices of cake and scones and headed back to our table. But I couldn't spot Emily anywhere. Maybe she got mad at me and actually left the coffee shop?

"Here you go, ladies. I didn't know what you girls wanted, so I ordered a few of everything. Did I miss anything while I was away?" I asked.

"Thanks Ali. Yeah, Aria and I are going to go see a movie and get some dinner afterwards" Spencer replies.

I couldn't help but smile like a mad woman when I heard the good news. "Now I might be a bit old fashioned, but that sounds like a date to me" I say with a smirk, causing both girls to blush a deep shade of pink. "Relax you two, I'm not teasing. I'm just really happy for you both. I had no idea my plan would work out so well and so soon"

"Wait! I thought you said you were positive Spence would say yes?" Aria blurted.

"I did. I just didn't want you stressing out over something that would come to happen in the long run. I wanted to encourage and help not criticize and cause problems" I answered with a sad smile.

"Wow! Alison you really have changed. Who would of thought you were actually capable of being a real genuine person?" Spencer said. I slightly frowned. Not because I didn't like what she said, but because she was right and I hated that about myself. "I didn't mean it like that" she added after she seen my facial expression.

"Yes you did, and I'm fine with it. You're completely right anyways" I say with a slight smile.

"It's crazy how much Emily changed you. It was her that did that, wasn't it?" Aria then asks.

"At first yes, but now I'm not sure. Em and I aren't really on speaking terms. But I do know that I'm a lot happier not being a bitch anymore" I chuckled trying to ease the slight hurt in my chest.

"So where is Emily by the way?" Aria asks.

"She probably left. It's been like that for a while now. It's like we can't even be in the same room anymore. To be honest, I don't even know why that is" I say trying my hardest not to let them see the sadness in my eyes.

Then they both give me confused stares. Spencer even opened her mouth seeming like she was about to say something, well that was until we all heard a familiar laugh. We all simultaneously turn in the direction where the laugh came from, only to spot Emily hugging a guy and laughing.

Seeing that just caused my heart to sink even further. Maybe we really aren't meant to be together after all?