Thank you for your reviews, follows, and favorites so far! You guys are totally awesome! One thing I noted when I was re-watching some old 5A scenes (which I forgot) is that Emily had to quit the swim team after her shoulder injury! However, since I already wrote it like she's still on the team in the last chapter, we're just going to keep it that way.
2
"Have you heard? The Alison DiLaurentis has a massive hickey on her neck! I mean, it's only been a little while since she got back, and she's already slutting it up with a new guy?"
Satisfaction running through her body, Paige felt a smug smile forming on her face as she heard a girl in the school hallway spread the news to one of her friends. Maybe she had been wrong about what was going on between Emily and Alison— maybe it was just a one time kiss and they sorted things out. Because now Alison was hooking up with some mystery dude, and there was no way that it could be—
Then she saw Emily dragging Alison by her arm into the girls' restroom rather hurriedly. There was a huge-ass scarf wrapped around Alison's neck, presumably to cover up her so-called "massive hickey," as the girl had described it. Paige swallowed hard, getting an increasingly unsettling feeling in her stomach when she saw them sneak into the bathroom, as if it were some kind of secret meeting. Quickly, Paige shoved her remaining books into her locker, slammed it shut, and followed them to the bathroom because she couldn't God damn control herself when it came to Emily Fields.
She barely opened the door, making sure that they couldn't hear it, and pressed her ear to the crack.
"Ali, you let your scarf slip in class?"
"I'm sorry! I— I didn't think that anybody would see it."
"Well, somebody did. People are talking about it."
"Let them talk. I'm used to people talking about me now. Nobody knows that it was..."
Instead of finishing her statement, the blonde let it trail off, dragging her eyes up to meet Emily's. Paige's face fell when, through the slit of the door, she unclearly saw Emily putting her hands on Alison's shoulders, squeeing them gently, standing tall behind her. They looked at their reflection in the mirror, both of their hearts pounding louder than they wanted. Emily reached over and moved Alison's scarf aside, exposing the skin on her neck. And then, Paige got a small glimpse of that massive hickey on her neck. It really was.
It kept becoming more and more apparent that the person who gave her the hickey wasn't some random guy— it was Emily. And that was haunting. That meant that Emily probably didn't just drop her off while she was taking her home the other day. It meant that they had been hooking up. Whether that meant that they were having sex or just making out, there was something going on between them, and Paige didn't want any of that.
Emily reached into Alison's purse, pulling out a stick of concealer. It was almost as if she were so familiar with that bag, as if she knew exactly where everything was in it, and that meant that they clearly were very close, which was another annoying tidbit that was swirling around in Paige's messy pool of thoughts, further frustrating her.
Emily popped the cap off of the concealer stick, bringing the tip closer to the deep purple mark blemishing her neck.
"Here..."
"I should've done this from the start."
The brunette didn't respond, and simply ran the concealer on top of the mark, turning the discoloration into Alison's normal skin color. After she applied enough to cover the entire mark, Emily brought her hand to it, gently dabbing it with her fingers to blend the concealer in. Once it was flawlessly blended, Emily's fingers lingered on her neck for much longer than Paige would've liked to admit.
"Looks like it never happened," the blonde commented, still looking at their reflection in the mirror.
"Ali, we've gotta be more caref—"
She was cut off by Alison turning around, grabbing the back of Emily's neck, and pulling her head close so that their lips could touch. And Emily became incapable of stopping anything when it came to Alison.
"Ali... Someone might..."
For a moment, Paige swore she saw a hint of worry flash upon Alison's face, but it quickly disappeared. As did the two of them; Alison reconnected their lips, then started backing them into one of the bathroom stalls, almost pushing Emily inside of it. She locked the stall's door, and that was the last Paige saw of them. Paige felt tears building up in her eyes— this was a nightmare. They really couldn't even keep their hands off of each other at school? It was bad enough that they were giving each other hickeys outside of school.
And in all the time that they were dating, Emily had never left a mark like that on her. In fact, she had never even left a mark. It felt like a silly thing to worry about, but to her, it was like a symbol of knowing that Emily was hers. But now? Emily was Alison's. Did that mean that while they were dating, Emily never wanted her? At least not in the way that she seemed to be wanting Alison... craving Alison.
Not wanting to hold the door any longer, Paige quietly stepped inside of the bathroom. She was hoping that they were too consumed with each other that they wouldn't hear her entering, but she was also hoping that they weren't consumed with each other at all because... well, she freaking hated the thought and sight of them together.
"Ali, seriously... people are already talking about you and us and everything happening with Bethany. What if—"
She was silenced again by the loud suctioning of their lips, which was just about as bad as nails against a chalkboard to Paige's ears. She didn't even know why she bothered to stay in the bathroom while this was happening— she didn't even know why she was doing any of this. All she knew is that she wished that there were some way to make this toxic relationship end between them. She wished that she could go back to the days where Emily held her hand in the school hallways, kissed her sweetly, took her out to get food... She wanted to go back to the days where Alison was gone and everything in her life was finally starting to come together.
She then heard the rough sound of somebody's back hitting the stall's door. She saw the backs of Alison's heels and the fronts of Emily's sneakers, clearly indicating that the brunette had taken control of things.
"Mmph, Em," a muffled moan from the blonde echoed in the room.
Paige almost scoffed, but she stopped herself. They were really doing this in the school's bathroom, and they would probably continue until the bell rang— or maybe even after. Unsure if she would vomit if she stayed for any longer, Paige silently opened the door a crack and wiggled out, pulling it shut again gently once she was out, leaving them to their toxic relationship, trying to think of other things to distract herself.
The next day, Paige avoided Emily until their unavoidable swim practice began.
"Hey..." Emily huffed out when she entered the locker room, looking a lot grumpier than usual.
Her demeanor had changed a bit in the last few days, ever since Paige caught her shoving her tongue down Alison's throat in the locker room the other day. She seemed happier, generally, which was something else that made Paige sick. Not because Emily was happy— she wanted Emily to be happy— but because Alison was probably the one making her that way. Maybe she liked whatever game Alison was playing with her, or something like that.
But today? Things were different.
Today, Emily looked frustrated. Unhappy. Annoyed. She didn't have the same glow that she had.
"Everything all right?" Paige asked, looking over at the tanned girl. She didn't know why she was even bothering to ask, because Emily clearly didn't give much of a damn about her. The last time they hung out was when they went to the school's Frozen sing along together, but Paige figured that was before whatever she had going on with Alison had begun. That was back when Paige had real hope that she and Emily could make things work, and that they could find their way back to each other.
"Yeah," she lied, avoiding eye contact.
Paige rolled her eyes. She regretted asking because she knew that Emily would do this— that she would lie to her and pretend like everything was okay. It wasn't like she was supposed to tell her what was going on in her life (Emily had always had her own little secrets going on with her group of friends, even before Alison came back), but it just hurt that she was shutting her out.
"Really? It doesn't seem that way," Paige said.
"I'm fine," she insisted, pulling her swimsuit out of her swim bag.
"You're not, but you're not gonna tell me what's going on. I know that," Paige said bitterly. "Whatever, Emily."
"There's nothing going—"
"Is this about Alison?"
"What?" Emily asked incredulously, but it sounded so fake.
Paige scoffed.
"Oh, don't play dumb with me... we both know you're not."
"I'm not! Why would I be upset about her?"
"How would I know? You're both in your own little world, always. You're always whispering around the halls. You're always close together. You think I haven't noticed, Em? You're letting her manipulate you. Again."
"That is not what's going on," Emily shook her head. "You're analyzing everything too much. Ali's hurt, I'm just trying to be there for her."
"Sure, if that's what you wanna tell yourself so that you can sleep at night, then fine."
"What is your problem, Paige? I don't have to explain anything to you, anyway."
"Yeah, you don't. You might think that you're not my problem anymore just because we broke up, but it doesn't work like that, Em. We might be broken up, but I can't just turn off a switch and stop caring about you."
"It sounds more like you're interrogating me."
"I'm just trying to protect you. That's what I've always done."
"Well, I don't need to be protected, okay? I can handle myself perfectly fine."
"Can you? Because she hasn't been back that long, and you're already letting her manipulate you. What? She gives me and you and everyone she's hurt some half-assed apologies one night, and you just—"
"Don't. I'm not talking about this with you."
Emily slammed her locker shut, picked up all her belongings, and moved to another row of lockers to change. Paige pressed her lips together, feeling frustrated. She wanted to become a part of Emily's life again, but she ended up just shutting herself out more.
After swim practice was over, Emily rushed out of the locker room. The only thing relieving Paige was that she wasn't sticking around for another locker room "talk" with Alison. It only furthered the idea in Paige's head that there was some conflict between the two girls, who had been closer than usual recently.
Emily walked outside the school building, ready to begin her walk home after practice. But when she looked up at the parking lot, she saw Alison standing there, waiting outside of her car with a very apologetic smile on her face. Emily pressed her lips together, standing still for a moment. Hesitantly, she began taking slow steps towards Alison and her car.
"What are you doing here, Ali?"
"I thought that I could pick you up after practice... so you don't have to walk home by yourself."
"It's not a long—"
"Get in, Em. Come on."
Alison's face was pleading, and the apologetic expression sure was believable. Emily contemplated it for a moment before sighing deeply and pulling the car door open. She got inside, sitting down in the passenger seat. She stared at the radio controls in car, not wanting to look over at the blonde.
"Em, would you just look at me? Please?"
"How can I do that? This keeps getting worse and worse, and I just keep hoping that you'll actually be honest for once in your life."
"I haven't done anything yet..."
"But you're going to, Ali. We all had this fight last night. You can't identify Cyrus as your kidnapper. You can't let an innocent man go to jail for something that didn't even happen."
"He's not innocent! I told you what he did to me. I told you that he robbed me, used me... made me feel worthless. I told you everything. Why can't you understand? I know the others don't because I didn't tell them what he did, but you?"
Emily looked at her sympathetically. She knew how much the blonde had been through, but she loathed the web of lies that she and the other girls were being sucked into again.
"I know he hurt you, and trust me, I hate him for what he did to you. But he didn't do what you're gonna send him to jail for. He didn't kidnap you for two years."
"God, I just want everything to go away, and everything would be easier if I identified him! He'd be locked up and we could move on with our lives. I wish I didn't tell that stupid story about being kidnapped in the first place!"
Emily sighed.
"It's not too late to tell the truth to the police..."
Alison looked at her like she was crazy.
"No. I can't do that now. You know it."
"And this is better? Wouldn't it feel good to get everything off your chest?"
She stayed silent.
"Ali..."
"Can we not do this?"
"Then what do you want to do? Do you want to kiss me and pretend like everything's okay? Because it's not. Everything is not okay. I finally thought that we were done with the lies."
Ignoring her, Alison started the car. Emily rolled her eyes, frustrated, but relaxed her body against the seat, deciding that it was no use right now.
"You let him go."
"What?" the blonde asked, although she knew exactly what the other girl was talking about.
Emily, who was standing in the doorway of Alison's bedroom, entered, shutting the door behind her. Alison swallowed hard, her eyes struggling to meet the tanner girl. The blonde was sitting on her bed with her head pressed against the back wall. Emily took a seat on the bed, scooting to the center of it.
"Thank you," she breathed, "for doing the right thing. I know... I know it must've been hard... with everybody watching you and all."
Alison nodded her head, but still wouldn't meet eyes with the brunette.
"So, you're done being mad?"
"I— I wasn't mad."
"Yes you were, Em. You can admit that."
The brunette took a deep breath.
"Okay, I was mad. But only because I thought that you were gonna make a really bad decision after I've defended you against everyone. I wanted to be right about you, and I am. I know that now."
"I'm still making you all lie for me..."
"Ali, I'm here for you, okay? I know that you've been through a lot, and I told you that we're all gonna do this for you to protect you... one last time. But we can't do this again and again. This is it."
"I know."
"Okay."
Alison bit her lip. She finally managed to look over at Emily, who had her legs crossed. Her eyes were off staring at the pictures on Alison's desk absentmindedly. She seemed like she was really thinking hard.
Suddenly, Alison's dad showed up in the doorway. Even though the door was open, he hit the actual door a few times to get their attention. Both the girls' heads turned to look at him.
"Hello, girls. I didn't mean to disturb you two, but I wanted to talk to you, Alison," Kenneth said, looking at his daughter nervously. "I just got a call from my boss, and he wants me in Harrisburg for a few meetings. They're important meetings, but I don't want you to be alone, considering that we now know that your kidnapper is still out there, and that horrid person attacked you the other night... I'm trying to get Jason to come home so that he can watch you, but I'll cancel the trip if—"
"She can stay at my house," Emily suddenly offered.
Kenneth and Alison both raised their eyebrows, looking at the brunette curiously.
"Emily, that's very sweet of you, but you don't have to do that," Kenneth shook his head.
"No, it's no problem, I promise," she said. "My mom has been wanting to check up on Ali for a while now. She's back from visiting Texas."
Kenneth looked over at his daughter to see how she was reacting.
"All right," he nodded his head. "I'm fine with her staying at your house, as long as your mother is fine with it, too. Have her give me a call, please?"
"Will do," Emily smiled sweetly.
"Okay. Thank you, Emily," he said, tapping on the door with his fingernails, clearly looking like he wanted to say something. He lingered in the doorway for a bit longer while both the girls tried to figure him out. He suddenly decided to speak up: "Thank you, not just for letting her stay at your house, but... thank you for always being there for her. Taking care of her. She talks very highly of you."
Emily just smiled while Kenneth found his way out, leaving the girls alone again. Heat rose to Alison's cheeks because of what her father revealed.
"You've talked about me... to your dad?"
Alison rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile.
"I didn't want him to think that nobody's been there for me, especially after that person attacked me here. It's nothing big..."
Emily wasn't convinced, and continued smiling like a fool so hard that Alison had to roll her eyes another time. The brunette took a leap of faith and leaned her body across the bed to place a gentle, chaste kiss to the blonde's lips, which the other girl gladly accepted. It was short, but both of them were smiling at each other like fools afterwards, blushing like crazy. And Emily realized that it was the first time they had kissed like that, at least since she got back. It was so innocent and different from how they had been locking lips before. All those other encounters were hastier and more suggestive. For once, it felt pure. Emily felt like she could see the real Alison, finally. The good one. The one she had always wanted.
"What was that for?" the blonde questioned, trying to downsize her stupid smile, but was failing miserably.
"I don't know. Just because..."
