The liars had been on edge since the arrival of A had been done in a grand gesture. As Spencer said, "A took a nap, and woke up". Most of the individual texts received were directed at Alison, or so they thought. One of the girls in the group had been hiding a secret that A hadn't been gone all along. The threats have been getting increasingly worse by the day and the stress of it all coupled over. The resident sweetheart Emily Fields has been the constant victim of A before, during and after the death of Shana. Why couldn't she tell the other girls? Only she knows that answer. Emily had been experiencing a lot these past few weeks with the return of her first love, breaking up with Paige, trust being broken with Paige, the feelings her first love told her she'd returned when they were younger, and the main fact that A had found out her most sacred secret that no one in Rosewood knew, not even her parents or her best friends. Her current state of mind was in turmoil and the last thing she wanted to turn to was alcohol like she had before after the death of Maya and killing Nate. The urge to pick up the bottle staring her in the face became stronger. Her mother was currently in Texas visiting her father, and their liquor cabinet was always stocked. She chose vodka as her drink of choice because it had a quicker effect. She began to lick her lips at the sight when she heard the doorbell ring and went to check whom it was. She opened the door and had mixed emotions about the person who was standing before her.
"Hey Em," she said shyly.
"Hey Ali, what are you doing here?" Emily asked half grateful for the distraction.
"I was wondering if I could stay the night here, my dad is out of town for business and I don't know where Jason is," she says in a mouthful and it takes a lot of Emily not to chuckle, Alison had her at stay.
"Of course, come in," she said ushering Alison on the other side of the door and closing it. "How'd you get here?"
"I walked," she said.
"Three miles in the dark?" Emily asked in a shocked tone.
"Yeah it allowed me to clear my head," she said nervously before looking at the floor, something Emily noticed she'd never done almost three years ago.
"Well I'm glad you're here, are you hungry?" she asked gently.
"Yeah, I'm starved," she replied.
"Good, I cooked something not too long ago," she said as they walked into the kitchen and she opened the cabinet to pull out a plate.
"What did you cook?" Alison asked to create a conversation.
"Dinuguan at puto" she says leaving Alison clueless.
"What's that?"
"It's a Filipino dish my mom taught me to cook, it's really good, tell me how it tastes," she said excitedly passing the plate to Alison who hesitantly takes a bite but lets out a moan once it hits her taste buds.
"Oh my god Em! This is so good," she says with her mouth half full causing Emily to let out a chuckle. Alison then notices the bottle of vodka on the counter and looks over to Emily with a questioning look. "We're you going to party without me?" she asks teasingly.
"More like a debate," Emily whispers under her breath hoping Alison didn't hear, but her luck was running short these past few weeks.
"What debate?" Alison asks attentively.
"Nothing important," Emily dismisses her. "You want some?"
"Yeah that would be great," Alison said thinking it would relieve some of the tension.
"Okay," Emily resigns and goes to retrieve two glasses from the liquor cabinet and places them on the counter. She opens the bottle and the smell enters her nose like the scent of new leather in a car. She feels tension leave her body and licks her lips like an addict. But the fact is that she is an addict and Alison doesn't know. Her hand begins to shake as she pouring and it doesn't go unnoticed by Alison.
"Whoa Em! Are you okay?" she asks worriedly.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Emily clears her throat to get a grip on herself and pours into the glasses. She slides one to Alison and by the time it reaches her plate, Emily is halfway done with hers.
"Slow down, it's not going anywhere," Alison says but it looks as though it didn't get through to Emily as she was already pouring herself another drink, and then another. Alison thought this was a weird behavior for Emily because she barely liked to drink, but then again that was three years ago. She sent Hanna a text: "What's with Emily? She's downed like three shots of Vodka in less than five minutes!" Her focus turned back to Emily who looked to be enjoying herself in the quiet. She was broken from her stare when Hanna replied back: "Take it away from her now! She has a problem with alcohol. Do it ASAP!" At that Alison looked up in concern at Emily who had been on her fifth shot by now. "Em, give me the bottle".
"No it's my bottle," Emily replied bitterly.
"Please Em! I know," Alison says and the tone causes Emily to look into her eyes and almost become sober.
"You know?" Emily asks.
"Yes," she says with a sigh.
"How do you know about Amelia?" Emily asks.
"Who's Amelia?" Alison asks confused and Emily immediately sobers telling her that she's said too much.
"Uh, I don't know, what were you talking about?" Emily tries to avoid it and Alison lets it slide if it will get the bottle away from Emily.
"I was talking about your drinking problem," Alison replied.
"Ohh," Emily says with a pop in her mouth.
"Give me the bottle," Alison says gently and Emily sighs and passes her the bottle. The events of the past few weeks finally catching up with her but were immediately softened with the alcohol.
"It's not that big of a problem Ali," she says and gives Ali her puppy eyes and Alison almost melts.
"That's not what I heard," Ali replied back trying to take control of the situation.
"What did you hear?" Emily asked hesitantly trying to gather how she should go about this situation.
"It doesn't matter, what you don't tell me I will find out from one or all of the girls eventually," she says in a tone she uses with her old victims.
"Fine! Ok I may have had a problem with alcohol. I was going through a lot and it was wrong of me to turn to it. I just wanted to erase everything," Emily said with a tear falling. Alison moves closer and places her hand on Emily's.
"Let's take this to your room," Alison suggests and grabs a half drunk Emily up the stairs. A half drunk Emily has no filter at the moment and Alison sees this as the best opportunity to get the full truth. They settle on the bed.
"They had just found Maya's body and I had a drink to help me wash away her memory".
"Did it work?" Alison asked.
"It did, for a little while, I wasn't Emily Fields, the perfect resident sweetheart, a lesbian swimmer who can't even swim anymore, and who's girlfriend's died. I was just no one at the end of the bottle," she explained and the pain in her voice broke Alison's heart. "I don't know how it got so bad, at first it was just a glass, then it turned into a half bottle, then I was doing a bottle in one sitting and even carrying around a flask. The pain just wouldn't go away. Why wouldn't the pain go away?" Emily cried
"I don't know sweetie, but I'm glad you're talking about it," she says.
"Talking get me nowhere except back to square one. I still crave it when my emotions get too heavy. I just want to escape. I just want to run away with Amelia and never come back," she says without any inhibitions or filters. Her eyes widen in shock that this is the second time she's mentioned that name and it scares her.
"Who's Amelia? You keep mentioning her," Alison asks.
"It's no one Ali, I'm really tired, let's go to bed," Emily evades hoping Alison will catch on that she's not fessing up any information. Emily settles on the bed and within five minutes she's out like a light. Alison tucks her in and strokes her cheek.
"Who's Amelia? I will find out your secret Em. Why can't you trust me?" Alison asks out loud. She settles under the blanket and cuddles up to Emily with her head resting on her chest. The next morning there's light flittering through the window and it awakes Emily in the most unpleasant of ways. Her movement causes Alison to wake up too.
"Morning," Emily whispers to Ali.
"Morning Em," Alison says with a smile. Emily goes over to a corner in her room to slip on shorts and a t-shirt.
"Where are you going?" Alison asks.
"I'm going for a run, want to come?" she asks.
"Yeah, sure," Alison agrees because anytime spent with Emily is like getting a taste of heaven when it's just the two of them. "How's your head?"
"My head is fine," Emily says nonchalantly.
"Wow, you had like five to seven shots, no hangover?" Alison asks surprised as she gets up and throws on the work out clothes Emily handed her.
"I'm what people like to call a functioning alcoholic," she says grimly and moves to go downstairs and start coffee. At that moment, Alison realizes that Emily's drinking problem was downplayed because it takes serious practice and time to even become remotely close to a functioning alcoholic. It causes her to sigh and get lost in her head until she hears Emily calling for her. They go at a steady pace, although it's much too fast for Ali and much too slow for Emily. They run three miles to Alison's house to retrieve clothing for her to change back at the house and run three miles back to Emily's house. When they get there Alison is fully drained. The clock reads 7:30 am and Alison thanks the divine being that is allowing her to sleep for an extra thirty minutes. The time goes by much to quick as Alison is up and getting ready while Emily waits downstairs eating cereal and drinking coffee.
"Ali hurry up!" Emily yells and Alison comes down five minutes later purse in hand and dressed to the nines. The first half of school goes by much too slow for girls' liking. At lunchtime they're glad to see each other signifying that the rest of the day they'll be seeing each other in the rest of their classes.
"Hey guys" they all exchange pleasantries at the same time. Everyone was engrossed in the same conversation with the exception of Emily who had been picking at her food. Her anxiety level was through the roof awaiting a text. As if on queue her phone buzzed taking everyone from the conversation and focusing on her.
"Who's that Em?" Aria asked nervously since they found out that Shana wasn't A.
"Just my mom," she lied and hoped that Ali wouldn't see through that lie or at least acknowledge it in front of the others, but her luck had run out.
"Don't lie Em," giving her the stare that's only reserved for her when she wants the truth and Emily sighs knowing she can't tell them the truth. But the perfect distraction came across the room to their table in the form of Paige making everyone go radio silent.
"Hey Em," she says and Emily can't help but be slightly annoyed by her presence no matter the timing. She knows she has to do something to get away from their questioning stares and hopes Paige can forgive me.
"God why can't everyone just fucking leave me alone!" Emily yells and swipes her tray off the table making food go literally everywhere, grabbing the attention of the entire cafeteria. They're stares make it worse and she actually explodes. "Oh like you're all so damn perfect!" With that she grabs her bag and swiftly moves to the exit leaving the girls shocked and Paige more embarrassed than anything. They throw her a sympathetic look, even Ali and she sighs and walks away in the opposite direction.
"Did you guys see that?" Hanna asks the obvious earning eye rolls.
"What's wrong with her?" they all question in the heads and decide to follow Emily through the exit on the side of the cafeteria. They enter the hallway and are about to round the corner when they heard Emily voices. She was speaking in a language that no one else but Alison recognized.
"What is she saying?" Spence asked.
"I don't know, but it's her native language," Alison says.
"How do you know?" Aria asked.
"Because she would speak it to me when we were at her house and stuff," Alison responds.
"Come on guys she's leaving," they say and follow Emily to the main entrance seeing her get in her car and speed off.
"She's going back to her house," Alison says.
"How would you know?" Hanna asks slightly jealous that she knows Emily's moves even after all the years of separation.
"Because I just know," Alison says firmly as they begin to walk towards Spencer's car and head towards Emily's house. They arrive to Emily's house within fifteen minutes to see her car and a motorcycle outside.
"Who does that belong to?" Hanna asks rhetorically and they collectively shake their head in confusion. They arrive at the door to see that it's ajar and hear shouting taking place upstairs. They don't want to barge in so they softly listen and head up the stairs.
"How could anyone find out?" Emily asks angrily.
"How the hell would I know? I'm not the one with a psycho after me," the person yells back and they detect that it belongs to a man.
"How do you know it's not from your side? I told you that this is only to stay between you and me! Did you tell anyone?" Emily asks.
"I swear Em, I told no one. I'm going to protect her," he says softly.
"I just can't believe this shit! I so sick of living my life this way," Emily's voice becomes distressed and the girls could hear rustling and things falling in her room. They rush to see if her friend is okay to see her panting and a guy next to her.
"Hey get away from her!" Spencer yelled and tried to stare him down.
"Who the hell are you? How did you get in here?" he yelled but turned back to Emily who was gasping.
"I…. I can…. I can't breathe," she gasped out.
"Follow my breathing Em, in and out," he says trying to calm her down but it wasn't working so he did a last resort and pulled out his wallet showing her a picture. Her breathing seemed to become less ragged as she stared at the picture and tears formed in her eyes. The girls were unsure of who the guy was, and stood to the side, confused on the relationship. The guy was of Asian descent, most likely Filipino and definitely looked out of place in Rosewood with tattoos covering his arms.
"Makikita mo ang kanyang isang araw," he said softly and rubbed her back. (You will see her one day)
"Hindi ko ay magiging buhay mahaba sapat," (I won't be alive long enough) Emily replied sadly and looked over at him. He moved his hand away from her like it was on fire and the girls noticed this but they had no idea what was said. He got up and looked at her in the cruelest of ways. She'd never seen him give her that expression their entire life. It just summed up disappointment with her contentment to die.
"Hindi ka kahit na pagpunta sa labanan para sa kanyang? Para sa akin?"
"I am fighting for her! I'm just so tired," Emily all but yelled and got in his face.
"No you're not you're just settling for this," he says and gives her the same look.
"You've never looked at me like that. Why are you looking at me like that?" Emily says with tears in her eyes.
"Because you disappoint me," he says with a sigh and moves away towards the window.
"Please don't say that. I can't live with myself if you say that. What do I have to do," Emily reaches out for him by his shirt. The girls remain silent not wanting to interrupt, but not wanting to miss any important information.
"You have to fight. What would she say if I told her what you're doing, she would hate you for the rest of her life," he says menacingly which earns him the hardest slap Emily's ever given shocking all the participants in the room except him.
"Don't you dare! If you ever try to turn her against me it will be the last thing you do," she says with a bite that now one expected from the sweet Emily they knew.
"This is what I want. I want you to fight. I want you to fight for me, fight for her, but most importantly fight for yourself. I don't want to lose you. Besides her, you're the most important person in my life," he says and walks across to her and kisses her on the cheek and embracing her in a hug. Compared to him, Emily looks really small which is unusual for her athletic figure. He looks over towards the girls giving them confused looks. He places a kiss on her head and backs away going to grab his helmet on the floor.
"Where are you going?" Emily asks nervously.
"Giving you alone time with the girls. I think you have some explaining to do," he says.
"But I can't. I can't talk to them about this," she says desperately.
"Why not?" he asks already knowing the answer.
"You know why," she scoffs and turns away from him. He puts his hands on her shoulders, which relieves some of her tension.
"You have to tell them. Everything. I promise you she's safe. She's not even here," he says.
"What do you mean she's not here?" Emily asks turning around with wide eyes.
"I asked my family to take her back home," he says and looks down knowing the wrath that's soon to follow.
"So you asked your dad, the most well known criminal on the eastern seaboard to take our daughter back to the Philippines? Are you out of you mind!" she yells and begins to pace the floor leaving the girls in shock of learning the truth. Before they could intervene he began to speak to her.
"She's safe Em. I promise you Amelia is safe. And as far as my dad, am I any better I mean look at me," he says and the girls really take in his appearance which screams mobster's son.
"That's not what I meant," Emily says but is interrupted.
"That's exactly what you meant. If you didn't want a baby with me then you should've gotten an abortion. It's you who made the decision to bring her into my world," he said and instantly regretted the words once they came out.
"Get out!" she said in a calm voice that scared them all.
"Em, I'm sorry you know how I get when we talk about my dad's business. You know I didn't want to bring her into this world especially since we all know that I'm the oldest son," he says and Emily's eyes soften with understanding.
"I know Danny, but she's here and she's not going anywhere. I told you once this whole thing with A is over I'd take her off your hands. We both agree that it's not the life we want for her, and you basically have no choice but to take over your father's business," she says with a sigh and sits down on the bed. He squats down to eye level and grabs her hand.
"I'm not saying that I don't love her now that she's here, but I really didn't want this. It was so much easier when we were kids on the streets in Manila. We had no worries," he says and wipes a tear from Emily's eye. "Listen I've got to go take care of business for my dad. Amelia will be back in town next month. I hope you come to see her now that the cat's out of the bag. I don't think this A person will be stupid enough to try and harm her and deal with the wrath of my father. If anything he's persistent especially when it comes to his family". He gets up but turns around and hands something to Emily before exiting. "I forgot, this is from my mom, she said this will help you".
"What is it?"
"Open it," he says. With that Emily opens the box to see a vintage necklace. "It's been passed down through my family, from great great-great grandmother. She bought that with her first paycheck".
"Danny I can't, I'm not…" she chokes.
"My wife?" he answers with a hint of regret and Emily nods. "I know, but you're the mother of my first child and when she has her child, around four decades from now, you give this to her," and everyone chuckles at the joke.
"I don't know what to say," she cries.
"Don't say anything until you open it," he pushes. She gets the locket to open to find a picture of Danny and her daughter.
"Oh Danny it's beautiful, I love you so much," she laughs through the tears and gives him a bear hug.
"I love you too, bye Emmy," he says and with that he kisses her on the head and nods towards the girls before exiting. They could hear his motorcycle rev up and Emily went to the window to see him take off. She turns around to see a mixture of emotions on the girls' faces.
"You have a lot of explaining to do," Spencer says.
"Where should I start?" she asks.
"How about the beginning," Alison quotes Spencer.
"Well remember last summer when I was drunk most of the time?" they all nod. "Well one day I drove out to Philly to see Danny, and I was already drunk."
"Oh my God Em! Drinking and driving!" Hanna says and they all gasp.
"I know, but at that point I didn't really care whether lived or died. Anyways, it was after the Nate situation. When I got there, we talked for a while before one of his friends offered me drugs. I don't know why, well I do know why, but I did them and that night was pretty much hazy. I woke up with Danny and we both didn't talk to each other for a while. He knew I was gay and I knew he was in love with me since we were little kids so we decided to take a break. Soon after that happened, I began to get morning sickness and I was late, and I took a test to confirm what I already knew. With all the stuff going on with A, I didn't want to bring our child into that so he suggested I leave the country for a while. I didn't end up going to Haiti. Instead he put me on a private plan and I lived on the beaches of Samoa until I gave birth. He was there for it. I told him my situation with A and he understood that in order to protect her, I couldn't claim her just yet. I haven't seen her since I gave birth. Until a few weeks ago, A had no idea about Amelia. She was safe, and now not so much, which is why Danny sent her away. Believe it or not, Philippines is the safest place for her since her grandfather has so many connections there, hell both of them do, but my parents don't know about her."
"How did you get involved with a mobster's son?" Hanna asked and everyone looked at her flabbergasted that that's all she picked up from the entire conversation. Emily appreciated Hanna's wit or lack there of and begin to chuckle which eased the tension.
"I've known him since I was a kid visiting my grandparents in the Philippines. We were really inseparable. His father's business grew and they moved here. His mom is originally from here and met my father and his father when she served as a nurse in the army. Our families are oddly close despite being on opposite sides of the law. It never comes up during dinners nor does Amelia. They understand that the less people know about it the better. Even though A is our current threat, Amelia is still in danger from all of her grandfather's enemies who want to push in on his territory".
"Man you're starting to sound like mob wives," Hanna laughed throwing us all for another loop and laugh.
"Well I guess I'm used to it," she says.
"So you guys were never in a relationship?" Ali asks and Hanna snorts knowing why she's asking that question.
"Uh no, I would describe us as brother and sister but that would be really weird. I don't know… we're always open with our affection for each other. We're soul mates in a matter of terms, we'd be perfect for each other, but I'm 100% lesbian. We're soul mates but he's not the love of my life," Emily says and looks toward Alison during the last part making her blush.
"So is he planning on being in her life once this A thing blows over?" Alison asks hesitantly hoping for a certain answer.
"No, not in the fatherly figure. He can't be, he'd have to many enemies once he takes over his father's organization. He'll be more like an uncle. Much like he is now since his parents take care of her while he tends to his father's business and follows orders. He doesn't want to get attached," she responds and looks down.
"So you're going to be a single mother?" Alison asks.
"Yeah, but I don't mind, I've missed so much of her life. I didn't get to see her walk, talk, change her diapers, celebrate her first holidays and it's all because of this psycho," she says frustrated and gets up to pace the room.
"Guys we need to hurry up and figure out who this A person, I for one would like to meet my niece, and I'm sure Alison would love to meet her step daughter, isn't that right Ali," Hanna says oblivious to a filter and we all laugh while Alison turns into a tomato.
"Shut up Han!" Ali says with less conviction than normal. Emily stifles out a yawn signaling the girls that she's tired and they all get the hint. All of them move to leave except for Alison.
"Alison aren't you coming?" Spencer asked.
"No I'm spending the night, my dad's away for the week on business," she says and they turn to leave satisfied with that explanation. Thirty seconds later the pair hears the front door close and they let out a sigh. "Long day?"
"You think," Emily responds cheekily with a smirk.
"I never got the chance to thank you," Alison says which causes Emily to look at her with confusion.
"For what?" she asks.
"You've been doing all these things for the girls and especially me, and we haven't even noticed you suffering. Thank you for taking care of me when my mom died and for saving me from A," she says.
"I didn't do anything," Emily attempts to be modest.
"You do everything for me and more, and I know I don't deserve you, but I'm so glad I have you in my life," Alison says softly but with power behind every word.
"I'm glad you're in my life to Al, besides I'm you're killer, if I didn't do those things, what good would I be at my job?" Emily tries to make the tension disappear in the room until she looks into Alison's crystal blue eyes and notices this tension can only be remedied by one thing…