A/N: I don't know what people are going to think of this story but I had an idea and I'm running with it! Plus I love Cece and all her mystery (I still think she's pretty suss) so...here we go.
Chapter 2.
"Hey, Em," Aria caught up with her friend at her locker, "You alright?"
"Fine," Emily replied stiffly.
Aria nodded, "Okay," she said slowly, "Tried to text you over the weekend."
"Oh, right," Emily closed her locker, facing her friend and feeling bad seeing the concern in her dark eyes, "I just… I left my phone at home," she lied, "Sorry."
Aria smiled, noting the shake in her friends voice; she'd never been a great liar, "It's okay… were you hanging out with Cece?"
Emily sighed, "Yeah, is that okay or do I need permission?" she snapped.
Aria was taken aback, "Em… I don't care who you hang out with, okay? I just want you to be safe and when you go off the grid all weekend we worry."
Emily's shoulders slumped as she lent back on the lockers, "I know. I just… I want to be a normal teenager."
"We all do, Em," Aria pointed out, "But we can't just ignore what's going on."
"Yeah," Emily crossed her arms, "But it's okay to escape sometimes. I mean, you've got Ezra, Hanna's got Caleb, Spencer's got Toby," she shrugged, "What have I got? Nothing."
Aria's eyebrows knitted together, "Em… you've got us. You'll find someone again – "
"It's not even about that," Emily said exasperated, "It's just… Cece's different. It's just fun. When was the last time we all had fun?" she shook her head as the bell rang, "I gotta go, I can't be late again."
Aria opened her mouth but too late. She frowned as she watched her friend walk away. Emily was never late, what did she mean… again?
"I'm going after school," Hanna shrugged, "I don't care if you come or not."
Aria slipped into the chair beside her friends, "Go where?"
"That boutique that Cece works at," Spencer replied, "Just to check things out."
Aria let out a big sigh, "Guys, I don't know if that's a great idea."
Hanna turned to her, "Oh come on, we'll just pretend we're shopping and see what she says. What's the big deal?"
Aria bit her lip, "If Emily finds out, it's just going to drive her away even more."
"But what if she is involved somehow? We have to explore the possibility," Spencer insisted.
Aria gave in, "Yeah, you're right. I'm in."
Emily flicked through a clothes rack absently. She sighed in exasperation as she turned around.
"Why do you have to mind the place if nobody ever comes in?"
Cece rose her eyebrows, "Nice, Americana. Don't say that around my boss, alright?"
Emily smiled, "Sorry. I'm just bored."
"I noticed," Cece laughed, "Well, you could go get me a coffee from the brew."
Emily sighed, "Fine, fine," she agreed, "I'll be right back."
Cece smiled after her, wishing she hadn't been asked to hang around work past her normal shift hours. She settled out the back and opened her magazine. She'd hear the bell if anyone bothered to come in. She'd barely started to read when that bell rung. She groaned internally as she threw her magazine down and headed out the front.
"Oh, hey guys," she plastered a smile on at the three girls.
"Hey," Hanna smiled right back.
"You guys looking for something in particular or you here to see me?" she grinned.
Spencer thought quickly, "Just having a girls shop, retail therapy after this ridiculous pop quiz we had today."
Cece narrowed her eyes, "Right," she said skeptically, "Well, let me know if you need any help."
"Sure," Spencer nodded, looking around her; both Hanna and Aria had already started looking around the shop, "So, you've been hanging out with Emily a bit lately, right?" she tried to sound casual.
Cece nodded, "Sure, a bit. She's a cool chick."
"She is," Spencer agreed slowly, pondering her next move.
"Something wrong?" Cece asked, sensing that Spencer was holding back from what she really wanted to say.
Spencer hesitated, "She's just been a bit… different lately."
"Sometimes change is good, Spencer," Cece replied.
"And sometimes it sucks," Hanna crossed her arms as she approached the two.
The bell rang.
"Sorry it took so long, there was this – " Emily stopped in her tracks, taking in the scene before her, "What are you guys doing here?" she asked, handing Cece her coffee.
"Retail therapy," Hanna said quickly.
Emily frowned, looking between her friends and Cece, "Really? Cause it looks more like some kind of confrontation."
"It's not, Em," Aria looked sympathetic to the situation they had put her friend in, "Really, we were just – "
"Anyway," Hanna interrupted, "I thought you were helping your mum out with something this afternoon?"
"Since when do I have to report all my movements to you?" Emily shot back coldly, crossing her arms.
"That's not what I'm saying but you don't have to lie about it either. Since when do we keep secrets from each other?" Hanna asked, sounding hurt.
"Whatever, I'm done," she turned to Cece who was watching silently, "Just text me when you're done and I'll meet you at your place," she said, before pushing past her friends and leaving.
"Sure," Cece nodded, "Hang on," she grabbed her nearby bag and fished her keys out, "Here, you can head over now if you want. I won't be more than an hour."
Emily ignored her friends' stares and caught the keys as Cece threw them, "Cool, see you soon."
The bell rung as she walked out.
"So, that was intense," Cece said as the three girls looked at her, "I mean, it's none of my business what's going on with you guys but I have no idea why I'm getting the dagger eyes right now."
Hanna tutted in disbelief, "Why are you even in Rosewood?"
Cece shrugged, "Well, that's none of your business, is it?"
"If you were so close to Ali, why didn't she ever mention you?" Spencer asked.
"Okay, now this feels like an interrogation," Cece said calmly, "You girls should probably just leave."
Hanna took a step closer, "If you hurt Emily, we'll hear about it. And if you do, you won't get away with it."
Cece rolled her eyes, "I'm pretty sure right now the only one hurting Emily is you guys," she replied with hard eyes, taking a step towards Hanna, invading her personal space as she spoke in a gravelly tone, "I'm pretty sure you're the ones who just chased her away and I'm the one who's going home to pick up the pieces."
"She'll see through you," Hanna countered, "She's not stupid."
Cece smiled, "Stupid, no," she agreed coldly, "Naïve? Maybe. Ali always said that girl was way too nice for her own good."
Hanna looked ready to slap the other woman when Aria grabbed her and pulled her away.
"Let's just go," she muttered.
"What are you doing? I was about to slap that bitch," Hanna growled.
"Exactly," Aria replied, "We shouldn't have gone there, I knew it was a bad idea."
Spencer frowned, "Are you kidding? Now we know Cece is dangerous. The way she spoke about Emily… that look in her eye, that girl is not stable."
"Yeah and she's totally right, we just drove Emily straight into her hands," Aria stressed.
"Someone should call her," Hanna said, pulling out her phone.
Aria shook her head, "Not you, Han."
Hanna looked up, confused, "Why!?"
"Because you were being way too accusatory with her," Aria sighed, "I'll talk to her. But let's just give her a night to get over it."
"What and just let her hang out with Cece tonight?" Hanna asked.
"She's not going to hurt her," Aria insisted, "If we call her now, it'll just make things worse."
Hanna put her phone away grudgingly, "Fine, but you need to talk to her. Tomorrow. I didn't trust Cece before, now I think she's just plain crazy."
Emily flicked through the channels, bored. She picked up her phone. She was surprised she hadn't heard from her friends. Maybe they were finally backing off, she thought hopefully. She couldn't understand why they would have gone to Cece's boutique like that. Especially without telling her. She sighed; she couldn't really talk, she hadn't been entirely honest with them either lately.
Things were just so complicated. She was so tired of everything. She just wanted to forget.
Emily stood up and walked over to the kitchen, quickly finding Cece's alcohol stash and pouring herself a large glass of vodka. She sat back down.
She was on her second glass when she finally heard the door open.
"Hey, sorry I took so long," Cece apologised as she threw her bags and keys on the counter and headed into the lounge, spotting the bottle and glass, "Started without me? How many have you had?"
Emily shrugged, "It's only my second."
Cece frowned and took a seat beside her friend, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Emily muttered as she continued to drink.
Cece sighed and took the glass out of Emily's hand and put it down, "What's going on?"
Emily made to reach for the glass but Cece knocked her hand back, "What are you doing?"
"What are you doing?" Cece shot back, "It's barely five and you're already drinking. And I know how generous you are when you pour your drinks. Two? More like four. You look like crap, by the way."
"Thanks," Emily said sarcastically, "What? Now I'm not allowed to drink?"
Cece rolled her eyes, "You can do whatever you want, Americana. You've just got that look about you like when we first met."
Emily frowned, "What look?"
"Like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders," Cece explained, "And you don't have to."
Emily picked up her drink and took a sip, avoiding Cece's eyes, "What did my friends say to you?"
Cece laughed bitterly, "I think they think I'm a bad influence or something. They sure as hell don't like me."
"I'm sorry," Emily closed her eyes.
Cece smiled, "Don't worry about it. I've dealt with worse," she shrugged.
Emily opened her eyes and smiled half-heartedly, "I don't know what's so wrong about making a new friend."
"Nothing at all," Cece murmured, taking Emily's hand in her own, "I think your friends are just used to you being around all the time… I mean, you're the one they all turn to, right? The loyal one, the dependable one…"
Emily looked at her, "Is that what Ali said?"
Cece nodded, "She did."
Emily bit her lip, hesitating, "Did she say anything else? About me?"
Cece watched her friends' eyes, reading the hope in them, "Well… she talked about you the most," she said slowly, "She said you two were the closest. That you were her favourite."
Emily's eyes widened, "Ali said that?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," Cece nodded.
Emily chewed on her nail, "What did she say about…" she trailed off.
Cece didn't need her to finish to know what she was talking about, "She told me you had a crush on her… she said you kissed her in the library and the locker room and that she rejected you… And, you know, she was Ali so she liked to tease you, but I always thought…"
Emily watched her, "Thought what?"
"There was this girl who liked you, Pigskin…Paige – "
"Paige?" Emily frowned, "She's my ex."
Cece's eyebrows shot up, "You're kidding. Ha, Ali would have hated that."
"Why?" Emily asked confusedly.
"Well… let's just say Ali made sure that Paige would stay in the closet for a long time," Cece claimed, "She said it was just another game, she just wanted to collect secrets but I always thought she was sort of… jealous. Scared of losing you."
Emily sighed, "She wasn't jealous. Not like that anyway."
"I don't know, she never really told me… I just sensed… there was more…" she shrugged.
Emily cursed herself as she felt the tears prick her eyes.
"Hey, hey, I'm sorry," Cece apologised, "Come on, Em, don't cry."
Emily wiped her eyes, "Sorry."
"No, it's okay," Cece put a hand on her shoulder, "It's alright," she pulled Emily in for a hug, "Shh, it's okay."
Emily let herself cry into Cece's arms for a few minutes before she withdrew.
"I'm sorry," she apologised again, her eyes red from crying.
"It's okay," Cece smiled, "You feel better now?"
Emily nodded, "You're a good friend," she said quietly.
Cece shrugged, "No worries, you know I'm here for you and – "
She was cut off when Emily's lips were suddenly on her own and she felt a hand fall her waist.
