Is Emison Happening?

Could two little liars be making their secret romance official? "Emison" shippers everywhere freaked out when shy swimmer Emily kissed her longtime crush Alison — and it was totally reciprocated. Though Alison and Emily have kept their recent hookup to themselves, these two won't be able to keep real feelings for one another under wraps for very long. After all, if Alison's feelings for Emily are as genuine as she claims them to be (and I'm not saying that they are quite yet) these two will have to let their loved ones in on their romance eventually, right?

Emily's crush on Alison was a secret to everyone but Ali before the Queen Bee of Rosewood High went into hiding, but once Emily reunited with the other little liars following Ali's "death," the Rosewood swimmer let her friends in on one of her biggest secrets: She loved Alison as way more than just a friend.

Emily never thought that Ali could possibly feel the same way about her, and moved on with girlfriends Maya and, later, Paige — but her feelings for Ali never really went away. Alison and Emily have bigger things to deal with right now then their love lives (I mean, hello, A is back!) but that doesn't mean that they can stay in relationship stalemate for ever. Now that Ali is back and saying that she's into Emily, too, could Emison become a real, official couple?

In a clip from this Tuesday's episode of Pretty Little Liars , "Silence of E. Lamb," we see Emily's mother (what's up, Mrs. Fields?) encouraging Emily to invite Ali and her other friends over for dinner, even though, as Emily says, Ali was just over. Could Emily's mother see that Ali and Em have a love connection and is encouraging her daughter to move on with the returned Ali D.? And does that mean that Emison might have a shot at taking their relationship beyond friendship — possibly even going Facebook official?

It's possible, but even with Mrs. Field's encouragement, I'm not sure that it is very likely. Sorry, Emison shippers, but I'm not completely convinced that Ali has the best intentions with Emily. While I do think that Ali cares very deeply for her friend — and possibly has real romantic feelings towards her — Ali's number one priority has, and always will be, Ali.

Alison may insist that she's changed, but she still hasn't become a person worthy of the title of Emily's girlfriend. (Then again, Emily's last girlfriend, Paige, did try to drown her, so let's not pretend Emily has incredibly high standards.) Alison is still the selfish little girl she was before she left Rosewood two years ago. It was only last episode that Ali was ready to book it out of Rosewood without so much as a word to her new romantic interest. Ali came so close to bailing on Emily without so much as a goodbye — there's no way she'd be able to commit to being Emily's girlfriend if she knows that she's an A text away from booking a bus out of Rosewood.

But let's not give Ali all the credit for stopping Emison from becoming a reality. There's a chance that Emily may not want a relationship with Ali realized. Emily has changed a lot since Ali left Rosewood two years ago. Emily used to be the person that Ali pushed around the most, simply because Ali knew how strong Emily's feelings for her were. But today's Emily doesn't take crap from anyone — even people she's in love with. Emily's breakup with Paige indicated just how little bull Emily was willing to put up with from her romantic partners. When Paige lied to Emily about telling the police about Ali, it was over for Emily. Ali may have always had a strong pull on Emily, but that doesn't mean that Emily will put up with her lies.

I think that Emily needed to find out about Ali's real feelings for her so that she could finally realize that Ali wasn't just messing with her head. (Well, some of the time, anyway.) But as far as Emison goes, I don't think these two should ever turn their feelings for one another into a real relationship. I still don't trust Ali, and Emily shouldn't either — Em deserves a girl who cares enough to stick around, no matter what the circumstances.

Images: ABC Family; prettyliars-unite/tumblr; Giphy