Summary: Emily is woken up in the middle of the night by a message of -A. The video shows Hanna, solidly attached to a chair, unconscious and hurt. Rules are simple, if Emily wants to ever see her friend again... she has to begin a race against time through Rosewood, planned by -A. In the same time, Alison tries to redeem her mistakes and find the courage to admit her feeling for Emily.

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A/N: Hello guys, I'm back with a new Emison story for you:) It's been a while I was thinking about it. I've that idea racing around my head since january and I have to write it down so... Anyway, there's some things, you guys, should keep in mind while reading this:

1/ I've try to use lot of genres in this story such as suspens/mystery/action (with -A) and also romance (Emison), so I hope it will please everyone.

2/ -A exist and Alison isn't in Jail.

3/ be patient with the Emison. Sometimes it will be a little frustating but... more you wait for something more you enjoy it!

4/ I've already write 13 chapter of this story in my native langage. Sorry for any mistakes you will find, I'm french and it's not easy to translate. If you find one, tell me and I will fix this as soon as possible :)

Hope you will like it as much as I've liked write this.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Ultimatum

Laying on a king size bed, Hanna Marin was staring at the ceiling with a blank look, for over an hour. This body, usually full of energy, persisted motionless. Her heart was heavy. "Where is the girl who never keeps her tongue in her pocket?" she thought, now angry against herself, this passivity she got stuck, her incapacity to know how to react. It wasn't like her to bury her feelings. Usually, the teenager just told her thoughts out loud - friendly or not, all followed the same rule: the sincerity.

Hanna half-opened her lips. No sound came out. Now the words got stuck in her throat. Even her eyes, with a deep blue, had eventually become glassy in the long run.

Ravenswood.

This name couldn't stop playing on repeat in her head. Caleb has asked to trust him and, curiously, the girl understood his need to find answers over there. Didn't she follow every single trail about 'A' for the same reasons? Nevertheless, under this confuse stream of thoughts, stirred a counterblow, more powerful. Her duty was to let him leave, she was convinced of it. "When you care about somebody, you don't go against the way he feels". If she made the right choice, then why her heart refused to hear it, the idea that he leaves?

Tired to mull the problem over, Hanna decided to cover her thoughts by the deafening sound of the radio. She turned up the volume.

Waiting for your call, I' m sick, call I' m angry

Call I' m desperate for your voice

Listening to the song we used to sing

In the car.

"Han'?"

Emily Fields was busy on the ground floor, preparing a hot chocolate for his best friend. The brunette had made eye contact with Hanna only a fraction of a second when she had left the high school, but it had been enough for reading thought it some sorrow. Sorrow remained unnoticed in Aria and Spencer's eyes, their life were very busy lately. The thing that had alerted her the most, was that the pretty blonde hasn't said a single word since the morning. Little accustomed to this kind of situation, Emily firstly suggested walking together, hoping that her friend would open to her on the way. Finally, as she expected, Hanna had confess that Caleb's leaving made her sad. Back to Emily's home, this one had locked herself into her own bedroom, thinking about it.

-Hanna! repeated the brunette for the second time.

Her voice was muffled by the sound of the music on the first floor. Emily caught the warm cup of chocolate and climbed stairs to her bedroom.

It's playing on repete

Juste like when we would meet

Cause I was born,

To tell you I love you

The girl pushed the door and leaned with laziness in the frame. Hanna didn't seem to perceive her presence. Emily switch off the radio.

"Hanna, pull yourself together. It is only the story of a week or two.

Emily waited her reaction, but got for any answer the silence. She put down the drink on the nightstand, then sat down on the edge of the bed. For the first time, her friend diverted her icy blue eyes in her direction. But even this simple gesture, reproduced hundred times in the past, hadn't the effect expected. Hanna seemed so distant, lost through a thick fog. She was there, yet her mind could have been wherever in this room, excepted with her, the object of her stoical pondering. Emily took her the hand.

"Caleb is faithful, you can trust him" murmured the brunette with a reassuring voice.

Hanna recovered suddenly, what had for effect to surprise her friend.

"You say that because you didn't take a look at girl he plans to help!"

"Hanna …"

"So what ? It's true what" she continues. "Any guy, if he isn't blind, would lose control."

"Listen to me. I have already met this girl: she is very ordinary next to you. And then anyway, it's not the real heart of the problem. Am I wrong?

Emily's dark pupils looked for a track, an indication, which confirmed her first impression. Hanna was worried, but something told her that Caleb was only the tip of the iceberg.

"With the choice of our schools for the next year, I had to …

Hanna broke off before the end, at a loss for words. Emily carried a lovely expression to draw her out.

" … I wonder about my future. I have to say it bring back some things.

"Like ?"

"Like the fact that I never ask myself about it before."

" Guess 'A' didn't left us too much time for that."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. Maybe it's stupid, but I can't stop wondering if in the end, he diverted us from what we were supposed to be.

"And what we should have been?" asked shyly the first one.

"Four ordinary girls, Em"

Both remained silent a moment.

"I know what you mean" The brunette shared her nostalgia. "You think that the teenager you were three year ago, would not recognize the one that you became."

"Yeah" admitted Hanna in a sigh.

"I've an idea if you want to meet this girl her again."

"Really?" said her friend, suddenly interested.

"Firstly, you should get your hair. It is the first time I see you with messy hair.

"Do you think someone will trust me I say that I'm testing new haircut? I even gave it a name."

"Try, you will see"

The teenager kept the suspense a moment.

"Hot night, she announced with an excessively sensual voice.

They burst into laughter. Seeing Hanna happy again was enough for Emily. Taking advantage of her good mood, the brunette caught her arm and pulled it towards her.

"Get up!" she shouted with a small laugh.

"Hanna Marin's legs are unavailable for a moment. Leave a message after the beep and they will call you back, or not actually, as soon as possible"

"You can be so stupid sometimes! Hanna, it is not funny now: my mother is going to arrive, and you, you have to go back home."

"Your bed begs me to stay and I think that I don't want to resist"

"Mind over matter"

"Where have you read that ?"

"In a scientific magazine"

"Which one?"

"People Weekly"

"People Weekly, seriously Em ?!"

The brunette gave a more powerful pulse on her arm, and Hanna fall on the ground. She rubbed her vest before getting up, apparently delighted by the good child way the night took.

Emily was all I needed this night.

And she was there. The teenager measured her luck, while this one greeted her friend and left. A few minutes later, the sound of tires in the path informed Emily that Hanna went away.

As she was going to bed, Emily noticed that the window of her bedroom was half-opened. The girl stared the shadow for a moment. Finally, she switched off the light and slipped under the covers.

Outside, in the garden.

I've wasted so much time on you!

Emily's words were still playing on repeat in her head. Alison knew deep down that she had to forget what happened that night, but she couldn't. How were you supposed to forget all of this anger you had seen in the eyes of someone you love?

"The night fell for hours now. You should leave, Ali. You're just hurting yourself"

Alison turned around and saw Cece staring at her with attention. The expression of her face had never been that serious.

"You can't stay here, you know it"

"Just one minute" begged the blonde one without given her a look, focus on the window of the Fields' living room.

"It's not gonna be easier to leave her, even in an hour Ali" objected her friend with a understanding voice.

"I know" she answered immediately. "It's just that …"

The words got lost somewhere along the way. What was she supposed to say for her defense anyway? The girl knew how much it was risked and absurd, but she felt the urge need to make sure that Emily was fine, that she was safe.

"You never stopped keeping an eye on her since you arrived here, right?"

"Not even a second" admitted the Dilaurentis' child, so low, that it seemed hardly a blast.

In the kitchen, Emily was busy, preparing a hot chocolate, whereas on the first floor, we could hear the deafening sound of the music. Just before climbing stairs and going to her bedroom, the brunette made a detour by the terrace. Alison changed her position and hid behind a bush, worried that the brunette could see her.

The swimmer moved forward the rail of the porch, leaned on it casually, her eyes up to the sky. Instinctively, the blonde did the same and was amazed by the silent show of stars, which sparkled at night. A few seconds passed before the girl decides to look down, exactly at the same moment as Alison. In a simultaneous movement, their looks crossed each other. Yet, only one of them could really perceive the second one. At this idea, Alison felt her heart sank slowly in her breast.

I will always be this girl in the shadow, transparent for her, she thought sadly.

Emily recovered and the blonde observed her powerless, turn around and then disappear behind the door. All of her wished only one thing at this moment: leave this stupid bush, go to meet the swimmer, feel once again the warmth of her presence. But it was impossible.

"She will never see me as I am" realized Alison, with heavy regrets in the voice.

"You can still change your mind. It's never too late, you know."

"You're wrong" contradicted simply the first one. "I don't have the choice."

Cece's look was insistent, so the girl hadn't other alternative than continuing her explanations. She slid a hand in her pocket and took her phone. The screen highlighted a message received the day before.

It was so cute hear you admit to Emily that your feelings was mutual. So much that I decided to give you the role of my new adaptation of Romeo and Juliette. As in every tragedy, none of you can be together. Become Emily's girlfriend and she will get hurt. Get away from her and she will be safe.

I hope you will enjoy the stage play.

-A

After reading the message, Cece looked up with a stunned expression on her face.

"You understand now why I had to do it?"

"Wait, you … you made all of this in order that she hates you, and so, be safe?

"I can't stand the idea of losing her."

"Even if that mean that you gonna lose yourself?

Cece's words resounded a moment through the freshness of this winter night, before the silence come back again. She sat down on the low wall, in front of Alison, and looked through her eyes.

"Why don't you ever let others see the good in you? asked shyly her friend.

"Because when people see good, they expect you to act in this way. And … I don't want to live through anyone expectation"

Her answer sounded like an intimate confession. Alison looked away a moment, without knowing how to find the right words. Cece was still staring at her with attention. She started speak again:

"But Emily questioned everything. I feel …"

"Lost?"

"No. Stuck", blew Alison as if she understood her feelings at the moment she expressed them. "I've been through too many tests to become again the girl I was. A part of me has been broken when 'A' came in my life, and I don't think I can look at things the same. Then I'm fighting as hard as I can to become this person everybody expects … but it's not enough. I feel like I'm stuck between the girl I was and the one that people want me to be. To be honest, it scared the hell out of me.

"You are on the suspension bridge, Ali."

The blonde slightly frowned, confused.

"It's a metaphor of the life, explained Cece as she gave her a look. The suspension bridge is the name we give to the dilemma which comes to you. Imagine you live on the hilltop, it's the only place you have ever known. Every day looks like the next, without anybody by your side, and you fight continually to survive. In front of you, there is another hill, hill where grass is greener, fruit plentiful, and where the loneliness is only an abstraction, replaced by the human warmth. You want to join the other side of this hill. There is nothing that you want more in this world. Unfortunately, a huge precipice separates you from it. Then you stay here, motionless, waiting for luck. You secretly hoped that fate eventually be lenient, but year after year, you lost the flame. Yet, a beautiful day, a storm broke out. You thought that nothing worse could happen, until you notice that… a huge tree fell between both sides of the hill, allowing you to cross it. So you rushed on this suspension bridge, hanging on it as we hang on life. You wanted so badly to catch happiness that you forgot to check if the bridge was strong enough. And because of that, you didn't even arrive in the middle of the bridge when suddenly, you realize that it's slowly breaking under your steps. Then you turn around and understand that there are only two solutions. Either you play the safety, turn back and jump now, on the side of the hill you always knew, or …

"You run on the other side for living your dream, even if there is a risk to just see it swept away" concluded slowly Alison.

"Something like that" confirmed the first one with a low voice.

After Cece's speech, the silence fell back again and the girl took time to think about this words. As her friend was going to leave, Alison called her:

"And what if I don't make a decision?"

She didn't seem to understand what she meant, so the blonde specified her idea:

"If I decided to stay on this bridge, and not moving?"

Cece smiled.

"Nobody stays over a bridge ready to break, Alison. That's one of these rare moments when your instincts take over everything else. And then… you know.

"But if you was wrong? If I'd never known what I really wanted."

"There is always a part of yourself which knows what you want deep down. Sometimes, you can't be brave enough to admit but… you know. You just have to trust yourself. Listen to your heart: it knows more, than you will ever able to know about yourself.

And Cece gave a last look before disappearing in the night.

After her departure, Alison diverted her eyes again on Emily's window and whereas she watched her smiling in secret, her heart felt enjoyment by seeing her happy.

This smile was worth all the battles of the world.

Wait me for Emily Fields. I will reach the other side. No matter 'A' will do, I'll be with through everything.

I promise.

Fields's house, 10h30 P.M

A metallic snap disturbed Emily's sleep, right in the middle of the night. A pain in her stomach, this one quickly looks at the bedroom, like an animal tapped. So absurd it could be, as soon as a tiny abnormality happened in her daily like, the girl dreaded the presence of 'A'. She calmed down a little by noticing that all around, everything was quiet. She closed her eyelids.

A regular, similar clock's beating ruined any hope to fall asleep again. Firstly reluctant to leave the warmth of her bed, Emily eventually got up, unable to forget the repetitive and atonal sound. Eyes still breathing the sweetness of sleep, the brunette found the object.

It was put in obvious on her desk. At first sight, it was a common alarm clock, like many other. Yes, but this one didn't belong to her. Emily was formal. She never had seen it before. Moreover, to look at it better, it's seemed more a countdown. Somebody had put it here while she was asleep. But why?

It made no sense.

Suddenly, her phone began ringing. Emily had just received a message. The teenager took it and rushed to discover the author. What she saw left her in a state of shock.

A video showed Hanna, solidly attached to a chair, half masked by the darkness of the place. Her friend was apparently unconscious and hurt. Only a message joined the sequence:

What do you think about plan a party to cheer up Hanna? Her life misses a little hot pepper lately, isn't it? What better than a treasure hunt? You have exactly twenty minutes to come in the pack of the Seventh Avenue. Every minute spent is one minute which moves her closer to the end.

Hanna ran to escape me, but she failed pitifully. Do you think you'll be faster ?

- A

A/N: Thank you for reading my story :) What do you think of this beginning ? Should I continue to translate it in english ? If you liked it, left me a review please!

PS: I don't know if it's possible but... if I continue to translate it, is there an english reader who could help a french writer in distress and correct my mistakes before I update ? Please MP me if you are interesting :)