A/N: So I literally wrote most of this story last night at like 2am. It popped into my head and it was one of those things where I had to write it out before I could go to sleep. There's established Emison in this story, but I don't go into the details of how that happened since for the sake of this one shot I just wanted to look at this plot. This takes place before the flash forward, while the girls are still in high school, around the time they're dealing with Charles, though A doesn't make an appearance here.
I have another one shot that's mostly written and the next chapter for Taking Care on it's way, so I'll be back soon! In the mean time, enjoy this random piece of inspiration and let me know what you think. xoxo
x-x-x
Emily curses as her phone starts vibrating in her back pocket. Her arms are full, with the magazines Alison had asked her to bring to their date in one hand and her purse she's still struggling to close in the other. With a frustrated growl, she pulls her purse's handle in between her teeth and reaches quickly for her phone, surprised to see Spencer's name flashing on her caller ID. She hooks her arms through her purse's handle and successfully flings it over her shoulder as she slides her thumb over the screen and tucks her phone in between her shoulder and her ear.
"Hey Spence."
"Em, you need to get over here."
The brunette's frowns at her friend's tone of voice. That's Spencer's no nonsense voice, the tone she takes with midterms and college applications…and A.
"I'm actually supposed to meet Ali at the Brew in like twenty minutes. Is everything okay?"
"I don't think Ali's gonna make it to meet you." Spencer says, her voice turning quieter, and Emily's stomach drops unpleasantly at the implication. "She's here with me now."
"Is she okay?" Emily asks. She feels her heart starting to race and she doesn't like where this conversation is going, at all. "What's going on? Did something happen?"
Spencer hesitates on the line, and Emily hears a quiet murmuring in the background. "I really think it's better if you just come over and see for yourself. I don't want to tell you over the phone."
"But –"
"Em, please. Just get over here, quickly."
Emily sighs, glances at the Brew's front door a few paces away before she turns and starts heading back to her car. "Okay, I'll be right there."
x-x-x
She practically sprints to Spencer's door the second she parks her car in the Hastings' driveway and tries for the door without ringing the bell, doesn't bother knocking when she finds it's unlocked and rushes inside. Mrs. Hastings is on the phone in the kitchen when she walks in, and the older woman looks less than pleased with whoever has her on the phone. She sees Emily and flashes a brief (and sympathetic?) smile, gesturing silently for Emily to go ahead upstairs.
She's reaching the landing upstairs when she starts hearing voices floating from Spencer's open bedroom, an argument of some kind it seems. Spencer's voice is clearly distressed, but whomever she's speaking to sounds oddly defeated, the voice meek and small. It takes a few more steps to realize Alison is the second voice she's hearing and that has her calling out before she reaches the bedroom.
"Ali? Spencer?"
The voices cut off almost instantly, replaced by a quick set of footsteps. Emily just arrives at Spencer's door, catches a flash of blonde hair through the doorway before Spencer appears and blocks her view, closing the door behind her.
Emily sidesteps to go around her but Spencer follows her step, blocking her path.
"What is going on?" Emily hisses in disbelief.
Spencer grips her arm as Emily reaches past her to push the bedroom door open, and Emily's quick desire to shake her off vanishes when she catches the look on her friend's face.
"Em, just…" Spencer sighs heavily. "Try to stay calm, okay? Brace yourself."
Emily frowns as Spencer lets her go, and the Hastings girl turns and leads the way into her bedroom. Emily quickly follows and gasps when Spencer moves aside, Alison finally falling in her line of sight.
The blonde is sitting at the bed, a bag of ice in her lap as she dabs at her lip – her broken lip – with a wet paper towel, the napkin already stained red with blood. There's a dark bruise forming under Alison's left eye, the same cheek flushed red probably from the ice bag in Ali's lap.
"What the fuck?"
Emily rushes to the bed and slides into the blonde's side, is quick to cradle Alison's uninjured cheek in the palm of her hand and tilt her head to get a better look at her.
"I'm fine, Em." Alison assures quietly, but her words lose meaning when Emily grazes her thumb over Alison's bruised cheek and the blonde winces in pain.
"What happened to you?" Emily demands. She'd seen Alison that morning and the blonde had been fine, clearly this is recent and if Ali had been attacked –
She notices Ali and Spencer share a look, one Emily doesn't quite understand. Her eyebrows rise in questioning demand, gently tilting Alison's face back to her when the blonde looks away.
"It –" Spencer is the one who finally speaks after several moments of tense silence, Emily whipping around quickly for an answer. "It was her dad."
"What?" Emily shrieks. "Your dad hit you? When the hell did this happen?"
"This afternoon," Alison replies quietly, eyes downcast as she speaks. "He was drunk, something happened at work I guess and he just – I don't know, we started arguing over something stupid and I riled him up. It –"
"I don't care if you told him to go fuck himself," Emily spits angrily, vision turning red. Her blood is boiling, rage sparking in her chest like she's never felt before because how dare he hit his own daughter? "He has no right to hurt you, to even touch you like that! How could he –"
"Em –" Spencer starts, but it sounds like she's about to try to calm the brunette down and it only enrages Emily further because how can they be okay with this?
"No," She rises to her feet, feeling like she's about to blow and she knows exactly who she'd like to blow up on. "How can you be so calm about this? He can't just get away with this, can he? He's her dad, he's supposed to –"
"Emily!" Spencer snaps.
"What?" she barks in reply, glancing between them both.
She turns to Alison to catch the blonde flinching and she instantly deflates, the sight forcing her to calm down, knows that Alison is probably already distressed enough without adding a hysterical girlfriend to the mix. She breathes in deeply, gathering herself and her emotions as she sits back down beside Ali and reaches to gently brush Alison's hair behind her ear.
"I'm sorry," she whispers, pressing her lips against Alison's shoulder. She feels Alison lean her head against hers as their fingers thread together over Ali's lap and she runs a soothing hand up and down the blonde's back when Alison sighs shakily. "Are you okay?" she asks softly when she lifts her head.
Alison's lips twitch into a halfhearted smile and she nods. "I'm okay."
But as the blonde says the words Emily notices her blue eyes are red around the edges like they only get when she's been crying, and the sight makes her heart ache because Alison doesn't deserve this.
She leans forward and kisses Ai's forehead deeply before she leans her forehead against the blonde's temple, fingers of their joined hands squeezing hard as her free hand continues stroking Ali's back.
"As for getting away with it, he won't." Spencer says, and the two girls on the bed turn at the steely determination in their friend's voice. "My mom's on the phone now with the police. She's not letting this slide anymore."
"Anymore?" Emily turns to Ali questioningly, but the blonde is looking away almost in shame. "This isn't the first time this happens?"
"It is," Alison answers, to which Spencer scoffs. Ali throws her a glare before adding, "At least since I've been back." She glances at Emily, her expression turning sad. "It used to happen…every so often, when I was younger. Mostly with Jason at first…until I got older."
"We'd hear the arguing and the screaming," Spencer says ruefully. "More than once my parents almost called the cops, but it always eventually settled down."
"After he got a few swings in," Alison adds bitterly.
"God, Ali, why didn't you tell me?" Emily asks, can't imagine what it must be like for the blonde to have to carry this burden for so many years, and she finally understands why Alison's never really felt safe even in her own home.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Alison says honestly. "I thought things would be different now that I came back, and I –" Her voice cracks almost imperceptibly, but enough for Emily to catch and her eyes snap up to see Alison's blue eyes glistening with tears. "I didn't want to think about it."
Emily doesn't reply, only pulls the blonde into her arms as Spencer sits down on her other side, rubbing Alison's arm soothingly. She kisses Ali's forehead and holds her tightly, wants to make her feel safe and loved and wanted and everything she should feel when she's home.
"It's okay," she whispers, feeling Alison's uneven breaths against her neck and she knows her girlfriend is crying. "You're safe now, Ali. I've got you."
"We've got you," Spencer assures firmly, and Emily throws her a grateful smile over Alison's head. Because even though things aren't totally perfect between the five of them (the girls are still getting used to the idea of trust Alison again and the idea of Emily and Alison together, even though they've been together for months now), she knows that when it comes to it, they'll always have Alison's back.
They sit in silence, letting Alison calm down in the safety of her girlfriend's arms, and it's only with that silence that surrounds them that they notice the sounds of a commotion coming from downstairs. Emily and Spencer exchange a worried look as Alison goes stiff in Emily's arms.
Spencer squeezes Alison's knee comfortingly and rises to her feet, heads over to close the door but as she reaches for the handle Mrs. Hastings' voice rings clear from down the stairs.
"Kenneth, I need you to get out of my house."
Emily's jaw clenches, eyes flying to the open doorway – Kenneth Dilaurentis is in the house, he hits his daughter and has the audacity to come looking for her. She wants to kill him, wants to fly down the stairs and hurt him as much as he's hurt Ali, it's the least he deserves after everything he's put his daughter through, but all thoughts of maiming fly out the window when she feels Alison shaking, looks down to see the blonde clutching at her shirt so hard her knuckles flash white.
"I'm going to see what's going on," Spencer murmurs. "Lock the door behind me just in case, I'll be right back."
Emily nods, squeezes Alison briefly before disentangling herself to go to the door and lock it firmly once Spencer's gone. Her eyes fall on the ice bag left forgotten on the bed when she turns. She moves to grab it and sit down next to Ali, takes Alison's face gently into her free hand and carefully presses the ice against her bruised cheek, mindful of the pressure she uses as Alison flinches from the cold.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks hesitantly, watching intently as Alison looks everywhere but at her.
"Not now," is the blonde's quiet reply, and Emily decides not to push it.
"Okay," she says simply, and she knows she's done the right thing when Alison's gaze snaps to her, eyes brimming with grateful relief.
They sit in a comfortable silence, Emily distracting herself by tending to Alison while the blonde basks in the affectionate attention, much needed after the last few hours. Downstairs the commotion grows louder, Peter Hastings' voice now thrown into the mix. Through the noise they hear Alison's dad say something about his daughter and Alison flinches.
"He's not touching you," Emily assures, a dark twinge in her voice. "You're safe here, okay? He's not getting to you while I'm here."
Alison doesn't say anything at first, just stares straight at Emily, eyes brimming with gratitude and adoration and a love that takes Emily's breath away. "Can you stay with me tonight?" the blonde asks finally, voice small and hesitant.
Emily blinks in surprise when the question registers in her head. "Of course I'll stay with you." She doesn't want Alison out of her sight after this, doesn't think she'll ever feel comfortable with the blonde going home by herself again. "You're not going home tonight, much less without me."
Uncertainty flashes across Alison's face, gaze falling on the closed door. "Em, I don't know if –"
Emily's stare turns incredulous. "You are not going home tonight," she repeats firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument. She finds it ludicrous, that the blonde would think she's spending the night at home with her father after everything.
Alison opens her mouth to reply, whatever she was about to say transforming into a squeak of surprise as both girls jump with the knock that sounds against their door.
"Em, it's me."
Spencer's voice floats into the bedroom and Emily exhales a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, dropping the ice bag by Alison's feet as she moves to open the door.
Spencer slides in with her mom right behind her, Mrs. Hastings closing the door firmly behind them before she turns to address the girls.
"I think it would be best if Alison leaves. Kenneth isn't making things any easier, not that we would expect any less. "
"We'd love to have you stay but it doesn't look like things are going to calm down for now," Spencer adds gently, and she turns to Emily hopefully. "Can she stay with you?"
Emily nods quickly, knows her mom won't hesitate to have Alison stay once she knows what the situation is. "Yeah, no problem."
"Are you sure your mom won't mind?" Alison asks, hands wringing together nervously in her lap.
"Of course not, Ali. My mom loves you."
"And in any case, I'm sure the rules can be bent in this type of situation." Mrs. Hastings moves to the bedroom window and glances down into the backyard. "Good, Peter has Kenneth out in the backyard. Spencer, why don't you take the girls out through the front? And do it quickly, the longer they're out there, the more opportunity we give your father to hit him and one filed complaint is more than enough for us tonight."
Spencer nods and gestures for Emily and Ali to follow her as she hurries to the door.
Alison pauses in front of Mrs. Hastings and offers a small, grateful smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Hastings, for everything."
Veronica smiles and reaches to cup Alison's cheek tenderly, the parental gesture making the blonde's throat clog with emotion. "It's my pleasure, Alison. I'll have Spencer call you tomorrow to check up and let you know what's going on."
Alison nods and moves to follow the other two girls, taking Emily's outstretched hand as they follow Spencer to the safety of Emily's car.
x-x-x
Emily leads Alison into her house with a steady hand on her lower back, smiling in assurance when the blonde glances at her worriedly.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Alison whispers, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip.
"Ali, it's fine." Emily assures quietly. She kisses Alison's temple as they hear Mrs. Fields call out from somewhere in the back of the house.
"Emily, is that you?"
"Yeah Mom, it's me," Emily replies, eyes falling to Alison briefly as she speaks. "I brought Ali with me. She's staying over, okay?"
Alison pinches Emily's arm, eyes going wide in alarm. "That wasn't you asking," she hisses.
"Because it's not a question," Emily answers quickly. She realizes her mom hasn't replied so she calls out again, "Mom?"
They hear footsteps coming from the living room before Mrs. Fields speaks again, voice louder as she approaches. "Now Emmy, you know I love Alison, but –"
Alison stiffens beside her when Mrs. Fields finally comes into view and trails off as she sees Ali, eyes widening in alarm as they skirt over her bruised face. "My goodness, Alison, what –"
"Mom," Emily warns, throwing her mother a pleading look.
Mrs. Fields' expression is of utter bewilderment as she takes in the sight of Alison clutching onto Emily tightly, worried eyes flitting across the room. Emily holds her breath, praying her mother will have the necessary tact to realize she shouldn't push this.
"Of course, of course," Mrs. Fields finally says. "I'll go set up the guest bed –"
Emily throws her a pointed look, shaking her head slowly as she feels Alison tighten her hold on her. The brunette meant it when she said Alison wasn't leaving her sight. Thankfully Mrs. Fields seems to pick up on the gravity of the situation and quickly backtracks, offering Alison a warm smile.
"I'll make sure to place an extra towel in the bathroom in case you want to wash up," she says instead. "You're always welcome here, Alison, make yourself at home."
Alison visibly relaxes and finally glances at Emily's mom, smiling in obvious relief. "Thank you, Mrs. Fields." she murmurs gratefully.
Emily smiles and kisses the top of Alison's head, rests her forehead against the blonde's temple as the blonde leans further into her. "You go on ahead, babe. I'll be up in a sec," she murmurs softly.
Alison nods, squeezes Emily's arm gently as she slips out of her arms and heads up the stairs. Emily waits until she hears Alison open her bedroom door before she addresses her mother, whose expression has shifted from welcoming back to bewildered.
"What on earth happened to her?" Mrs. Fields asks in a hushed voice.
Emily shakes her head ruefully, doesn't think she has the strength to go through this conversation right now, wants really to just slide into bed with Alison firmly in her arms and go to sleep after this horrifically long day, but she knows her mom wants answers almost as much as she does.
"Her dad hit her," Emily explains, nodding in agreement when her mom gasps in outrage. "Spencer and her mom got her out of her house, they were dealing with the police when we left just now. I don't know exactly what happened, Alison hasn't wanted to talk about it."
"She's probably in shock," Mrs. Fields sighs, closing her eyes sadly, almost remorsefully. "I always suspected something went on in that house, we all did. I just never imagined – "
"Me neither," Emily agrees quietly, eyes glancing towards the stairs longingly. Already she feels a sort of separation anxiety, wonders in what state she'll find her girlfriend when she goes up to her bedroom. "I'm going to grab her some painkillers and we're probably just going to bed."
"Perhaps that's a good idea, she's probably exhausted. I'm going to call Veronica and find out what's going on."
"Thanks, Mom." Emily smiles gratefully, finds herself thinking how lucky she is to have the parents she has, something she often takes for granted because clearly everyone isn't as blessed.
She doesn't know if it's mother's intuition that lets her mom know what she's thinking or if she's just that easy to read, but Mrs. Fields gathers her in her arms and kisses her head soundly.
"Go take care of her," she says with a soft smile and a squeeze of Emily's shoulder. "And tell Alison she's welcome to stay as long as she wants."
x-x-x
Alison's already curled up in her bed by the time Emily walks into her bedroom, and the blonde looks so young and small and vulnerable Emily's first urge is to gather her up in her arms and never ever let her go. Then she notices Alison's chosen to wear her clothes – her long Rosewood Sharks swim shirt with her name emblazoned across the back (it's Alison's favorite, the blonde wears it every single time she stays over at Emily's and the brunette absolutely loves seeing her wear it, loves seeing her girlfriend wear her clothes for the whole world to see) – instead of her own and she smiles at the sight, heart fluttering happily despite the situation at hand. She's Alison's happy place, her comfort zone, and knowing that feels better than she could have ever imagined.
Emily closes her bedroom door and shuts off the light, thrusting them into darkness only broken by the soft light of her bedside lamp. She pads over to Alison's side of the bed and sits down carefully on the edge, placing the bottle of painkillers on the bedside table.
"You might as well keep that shirt," Emily teases. "You look better in it than I ever did anyways."
"Don't think I won't take you up on that," Alison replies with a smirk as she sits up against her pillows.
Emily chuckles and brushes a strand of hair out of Alison's eyes, lets her fingers play with the ends of Ali's hair as her smile turns solemn. "How are you feeling?"
Alison covers Emily's hand with her own and squeezes meaningfully. "I'm fine, baby. I promise."
"I brought you some painkillers, just in case you wanted to take some before bed."
"Trust me, baby, I'm so exhausted right now I'll be asleep in seconds." The blonde brings Emily's hand up to her lips and kisses her fingertips. "Now hurry up and get in here or I'm going to fall asleep without you."
Emily smiles even as worry churns in her belly; Alison isn't really facing this and she's starting to feel like her mom might have been right to say that the blonde is in shock. Nevertheless she stands and strips to change into her pajamas; she knows the blonde will talk to her when she's ready, knows that Ali needs to process this whole nightmare on her own time and she's willing to wait as long as it takes.
She slips on a loose tank and a pair of shorts before she slides into bed, clicks off her lamp before rolling over to pull Alison into her arms. Alison curls into her instantly, wraps herself around the brunette until they can't tell where one ends and the other begins. Emily tilts the blonde's chin up and covers her lips with her own in what she means to be a soothing goodnight kiss, mindful of the gash on Alison's bottom lip as their mouths move against each other.
Alison whimpers softly, clutches onto Emily for dear life as she deepens the kiss, her tongue slipping into Emily's mouth and tangling with hers with a desperation that sucks the air right out of Emily's lungs and has the brunette groaning into her mouth.
It takes all of her will power to pull away but Emily does, panting against Alison's forehead as she strokes a hand through the blonde's hair.
"We should sleep," Emily whispers, albeit regretfully.
Alison sighs but nods, settles her head into the crook of Emily's neck and breathes her in. Emily shifts to wrap her arm around Alison's back and murmurs her goodnight into Alison's hair.
It's a few moments later, when her eyes start to grow heavy with sleep, that she hears Alison's soft voice call her name.
"Em?"
"Hmm?"
Alison doesn't reply right away, instead breathes out unsteadily against Emily's neck. Emily kisses the top of Alison's head in silent encouragement and waits patiently until the blonde finally shifts to look up at her, blue eyes glistening in the darkness of the bedroom.
"I love you," she murmurs, voice rough and unsteady.
Emily cradles cheek in her hand, traces her thumb carefully over the forming bruise, and drops a soft kiss to Ali's lips. She wipes at a stray tear she feels slide down the blonde's skin but chooses not to acknowledge it, knows that now isn't the time to have Alison deal with the full front of her emotions, that the 'I love you' whispered into the quiet air holds more meaning than the simple affection it suggests.
And with that in mind, her reply is just as quiet. "I love you too."