Here is the second part, it wraps it up! Thanks for all of the feedback.
Today I'm not myself
And you, you're someone else
And all these rules don't fit
And all that starts can quit
"You know that's why I kept to myself after Alison disappeared, because you reminded me of her," Emily said the next time that she was alone with Hanna. The two had gone for a jog and ended up taking a break in the middle of the woods, sitting at a single picnic table that had somehow gotten there years before. Hanna frowned at the sentiment, "I wish I would have known that. Except I guess I was too into myself back then to pay attention anyways." Emily sighed, "It's okay Han, we were all grieving in different ways," she said as she took a sip from her water bottle. Hanna looked up at the sky, thinking about how nice it felt to be out in the middle of nowhere for once with no phones, and no one to bother her. Well, except for Emily, but she never bothered her. "You know I used to want to be Alison so bad, but now when I think about it, being told that I remind anyone of her is the last thing I want," Hanna muttered, playing with her hands. Emily placed her hand over Hanna's, to stop her fidgeting, before she spoke, "You don't remind me of her anymore. Ali was cold. You're warm."
What a peculiar state we're in
What a peculiar state we're in
When Caleb's Dad asked if he wanted to move away with him, Hanna almost felt relieved. It was drama-free in the sense that Caleb knew they would be going to different colleges at the end of the year, and that it was the best time to get to know his father. Hanna had agreed, they planned on keeping in touch, said their goodbyes, and that was that. The reason it didn't seem to hurt wasn't that she didn't love him, it was that she had finally acknowledged that she needed to figure out what had been going on with her lately. She hadn't been connecting with him like they used to, and she found herself calling Emily more often than Caleb. It confused her and she hated it, but not as much as she hated herself for ignoring those feelings for so long. She thought back to the day that Emily had told her she was beautiful in that bathroom so many years ago and a smile appeared on her lips. Then she remembered that regardless of what she ended up coming to terms with, Emily had Paige. Her smile faded.
Let's play a game
Where all of the lives we lead can change
Let's play a game
Where nothing that we can see, the same
Hanna plopped down on Emily's window seat with a huff, typing furiously on her phone before groaning and throwing it onto the pillow beside her. "Something wrong?" the brunette questioned, as she sat down on her bed, getting her math homework from her bag. "Caleb has been texting me non-stop. Like, hello, we broke up! Stop annoying me!" Hanna replied, throwing her hands into the air for a dramatic effect. Emily frowned and got up from the bed and sat down next to her friend, "You don't have to put on a brave face for me, you can be sad about it," she said. "But I'm not sad," Hanna replied, "Does that make me a bad person? It was kind of a relief…" she trailed off, looking down at the floor. Emily smiled, "Of course not. I just want you to be happy, no matter who or what makes that happen." Hanna sighed, looking over at her friend, wishing that she could turn off everything she was feeling, before she spoke, "What if I think I know who would make me happy, but they're not interested?" Emily snorted and rolled her eyes, "I refuse to believe that. You are beautiful inside and out, who wouldn't be interested?" After hearing that, Hanna locked eyes with her and slowly leaned into Emily, brushing her lips against her friend's for a moment before Emily pulled back. "Hanna…" she said, trailing off with a surprised tone. Hanna, however, took it as a tone of pity and rejection, and practically ran out of Emily's house, ignoring the other girl's yells for her to stop.
We'll find all the pieces to the puzzles
Slipping out under the locks
I can show you how many moves to checkmate, right now
When Emily rang Hanna's doorbell a couple of nights later, the blonde had happily headed to answer the door, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who it was through the front windows. "Come on Hanna let me in, it's pouring and I'm soaked," Emily yelled through the door as Hanna debated on whether or not to open the door. A loud clap of thunder interrupted her internal struggle, followed by a bright flash of lightning. "Crap," Hanna muttered as she opened the door and let Emily duck inside, immediately taking off her jacket and boots, which were all drenched. "Here, I'll hang that up," Hanna offered as she took Emily's jacket to the coat closet. "Can we go upstairs? To talk?" Emily asked, silently pleading with her eyes as they met the blonde's. Hanna sighed and headed up the staircase, as Emily followed behind her.
The instant that Hanna's door had clicked shut, Emily blurted out, "I broke up with Paige," which made the blonde turn her head around so fast she thought she might have given herself whiplash. "What? Why?" Hanna dumbly asked as she stood awkwardly with her hands hanging by her side, eyes wide. "Because I would be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for you," Emily breathed out, "And after Alison, I vowed to never fall for one of my friends again, and I've tried so hard to keep that promise. But then you kissed me." Hanna's eyes were darting around the room as she tried to avoid eye contact with the brunette. She felt frozen in place, knowing that she needed to say something but was completely unable to. "I guess I just need you to tell me if it was a mistake. Our friendship means so much to me, so if it was, just tell me and we can pretend this never happened," Emily finished, looking worried at the lack of response she was getting. Finally, Hanna met her gaze and confidently said, "It wasn't a mistake." Emily didn't miss her queue; she walked over to the blonde and wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling her into a kiss. Hanna's arms flew around Emily's neck, kissing her back, and they stayed like that for what felt like hours.
Hanna gently pushed back from Emily for a minute, trying to catch her breath as she spoke in almost whisper, "Are you thinking about Alison right now?" Emily paused for a minute before she let out a laugh, "Hanna, I couldn't think about her right now even if I wanted to." Hanna smiled, that was all she needed to hear before she her lips met Emily's again.
We could take apart this life we're building
And pack it up inside a box
All that really matters is we're doing it, right now
"What exactly did you tell Paige?" Hanna would ask later, when the two were laying in her bed, limbs tangled together. "I told her that I couldn't help it, and that it's always been you," Emily replied simply, shrugging her shoulders. "Ha. Ha. Very funny," Hanna scoffed, giving the brunette a skeptical look, "Aren't you forgetting an infatuation with a different blonde?" Emily narrowed her eyes and gave Hanna an amused look, "Han, you are so oblivious sometimes. I remember when you moved here, when they introduced you to the third grade class as the new girl. I remember thinking your hair was so pretty, and I used to watch you, like, all the time." Hanna sat up abruptly before practically screeching, "What? You did not!" Emily let out a laugh, "Yeah, I did. You didn't notice… but Ali did. I think she hated that she wasn't the center of my attention, so that's when she started messing with me. And then she started calling you hefty. She distracted me for a little while but it really has always been you."
Hanna decided that she would wait for another rainy day to tell Emily that she used to ride her bike to the rec center and sneak into her swim meets, before they were good friends, just to watch her too.