Pretty Little Liars (Emison)

Leaves are Dying

EMILYS POV<<

I drive straight home after school.
I'm really...I don't know, excited? I
have mixed feelings about talking to
Alison. I think I'm worried. Worried that
she'll convince me she's a new person
now, that she's changed. That she loves
me. We both know that if she really
loved me she wouldn't of done what she
did.

I walk into my closet and look for my black
cardigan. She wants to go walking up the mountain
to see all the orange and yellow leaves. It
might be a coincidence but I think she might remember
that that's my favorite thing to do this time
of year; hike up the mountain with some hot coca
and fancy cookies. Just watch the leaves fall with my
favorite person. I guess Ali will do. I smile
and walk into the bathroom to reapply my makeup
and redo my hair. As I walk out, I spot my lip gloss
that tastes like chocolate and autumn. I debate on
wether bringing it or not. I grab it and stuff it in my
purse. "Just in case."

The closer I get to Alison's house, the more anxious
I get. Half of me wants to turn around and forget the
whole thing, but the other half wants to see what she has
to say. I want to see if she means what she says.

I pull in her driveway and honk my horn. After a few
minutes, I realize that Jason's or her dad's car isn't here.
Why the hell would they leave her home alone? After
all that's happened? I start to get worried after the 3rd time
I honk and she still doesn't come out. I build up enough courage
To get out and see if she's okay.

I walk up the front steps and knock on the door. No answer.
I look in the windows and hear a faint sound of a static
radio and see the lights on. I knock again, and all of a sudden I hear a huge crashing sound. I panic and run inside. "Ali! Ali, where are you?!" I instantly smell a fire when I open the screen door. I run frantically around the whole house and I hear, "I'm in the kitchen!" I walk inside the kitchen and there she is. She's picking up burnt cookies.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you." She laughs. I kneel down and help her pick them off the wet floor.

"Are you okay?" I ask.
"Yeah, yeah. I was just trying to make us something good for our hike."

She sets down her pan of burnt cookies on the counter and opens the cabinets. She pulls out a container of sugar cookies. "I bought them just in case these didn't work out. Good thing, huh?" she says. She brushes her hands off on her apron. She has flour all in her hair & face,. I have to admit, she looks pretty cute. My heart warms up at the thought of her remembering all of these things. I look around the kitchen and spot hot coca, steam rising up above the cups.

She takes off her apron and puts on her jacket. She grabs the container of sugar cookies & starts to walk out but stops. "Can you help me load?" she asks. I nod and grab the cups of hot coca and we both make our way out to my car.

The whole drive to the mountain was silent. We just listened to her Miley Cyrus music. We finally get to the mountain and we get the cookies and warm drinks and start walking.

"I used to go here all the time as a kid. When my parents got along for more than 10 minutes. They'd bring both Jason and I. "

"I'm sorry, about your parents." I say.

"It's totally cool. I don't care. We were never the most loving, affectionate family anyways."

I smile and we jump off a rock. I look up and see the sun shine through all the leaves, causing a color spectrum of orange and yellow. "It's so beautiful and peaceful." I say, staring up.

"You know, even though the leaves are dying, they still express beauty through the colors." She looks up to see what I'm looking at and when I look at her she has a smile on her face. "Wow, it's so gorgeous." She looks back at me. "Every time you smile, my mind comes to this place."

The winds blowing now, causing more leaves to fall. I watch them gradually float down onto the ground. They sway like their dancing to music. I look at Alison, who's staring up at the leaves. Her hairs flowing and her cheeks are red. In this moment, I realize how much I've missed her.

She looks at me which interrupts my gaze. I look at the ground trying to make it look like I wasn't staring at her.

"You know why?" she asks.
I stare at her blankly. "why what?"

"Why my mind comes to this place when I see you smile? When I was hiding, Cece drove me up to the top of this mountain. She dropped me off and drove away. I decided to explore and I lost my way, but guess what I found? The kissing rock. I sat on that rock for hours Emily, thinking about you. I missed you so much and I just wanted to tell you alive, but I was protecting you. Not only you, but the other girls too."

"Yeah but the other girls weren't in love with you." I say sternly.

She stares at the ground. "I put you through so much hell. Not just when I was gone, but when I was here."

I stare at her hair flowing in the wind.

"And you have every right to be mad at me. But I need you to believe me when I say this; I loved you. I really did. Those kisses weren't just for practice. Every time you looked at me, wether it was after swim or at the lunch table...a spark flew through my body. I was so scared of being gay. I couldn't face it, I knew my mom would never accept it. & all I cared back then was being on top. I had to be popular, the center of attention. I thought that if people knew I was gay, they would treat me differently. & I didn't want that." She tries to put her hand on top of mine but I unknowingly jerk my hand back...like my brain is forcing me to stay away from her. She goes on;

"I can't stand the thought of you hating me, Em."

I nod my head, "No, Ali. I could never hate you. You were my first love, I'll always have those feelings for you."

She looks down at the ground, and I see a tear slide down her cheek.

"You were my first love too Em." Her voice cracks. "I was scared of you. That's why I took it back. I was scared of being gay, scared of myself. Now I'm home and I don't even care anymore...I want you."

A sharp pain shoots through my heart. I've felt that before, it's called love. My heart is exploding, and overpowers my brain. I scoot closer and grab her face in my hands. I trace her cheekbones with my thumbs and kiss her cheek. "I'm yours."