A/N: On the timing for this story, it's different than the books. Courtney was in Radley 5-8th grade (not 3rd-6th). Alison has been in Radley as Courtney during 9th-12th (not 6th-7th). She was allowed to come back briefly in 10th before being sent back again. It's almost the end of 12th grade when this story starts. Thank you for the reviews! I'm really excited about this story! I have all the chapters (there are 10) planned out and partially written, so this definitely won't get abandoned :).
Ali had been busy, busy since the night before. She'd barely slept, but she felt renewed. Reborn. Unstoppable. She kept going through the list of items in her mind that she would need: money, ID, proof. Money, ID, proof. Money, ID, proof. And, if she had time, a sweet, cold cocktail of revenge.
After she'd stolen a few items (a trowel, a dusty backpack, tape, almost everything, really, that had seemed useful) from her neighbor's garden shed, she'd made her way back to Radley. Laying back on her lumpy, springy cot, she'd thought long and hard, deep into the early morning, about what her next steps would be. As much as she wanted her life as fabulous Ali D back, there was no way she'd be able to switch back with Courtney at this point. She wasn't totally confident she could convince one of her friends, much less all of them, their parents, and the city of Rosewood. Courtney had years of memories on her, skills Alison could never hope to imitate. It would be really convenient if Courtney had kept some sort of diary, detailing her every thought and secret, but she doubted her sister would be so careless. She had to let that dream go. There was no way she could switch back.
But just because she couldn't be Alison DiLaurentis didn't mean she couldn't be someone else. And she sure as fuck wasn't going to be Courtney. So she needed to get an ID and money and start a new life far, far away from this brightly burning trash fire. If not, she would certainly stay here and rot on the unlikely hope her parents might let her out when she was old and gray. Door one, please.
After what felt like she'd watched every single second tick by that day, she headed back up to the roof around 10 PM. She was going to need awhile to walk all the way back to her house. At least escaping your tragic fate burned calories.
As she opened the roof access door, she closed her eyes for a moment, praying that branch would still be there. She was pretty sure it would be, she'd watched it like a hawk all day, but she never knew what to expect in this fuck up of a life. She would need to find a solution to that tonight, some other way to get out of this place. At most, she only had a few more days until workers would be out here, wood chipping every twig of her salvation. She'd figure something out.
She grabbed the backpack she hid under the casing of a broken AC unit, and headed down to the ground. After what felt like a thousand miles, her legs and feet aching, she emerged out of Spencer's yard and crossed over to her house. Just as she placed one hand on the siding of their spot, she heard a rustle and spotted Emily pushing through the bushes, just like she had last night. She really knew how to come out of a bush. Ha.
"Emily," she called out to her in a whisper, Emily's head jerking in her direction.
There was a part of her that thought Emily wouldn't show, that she might've figured things out somehow during the day. There was an even worse part of her that thought she would come, but toting police officers and hospital staff.
Ali was so excited when she saw neither, she couldn't help but smile widely at Emily as she approached. She took both of Emily's arms at the elbows before impulsively pulling her into a tight hug. She even closed her eyes, and it wasn't totally an act. She was genuinely happy to see the brunette, ecstatic that she had followed her rules.
"Hey," Emily said breathily against Ali's ear.
Ali could tell Emily was slightly flustered from the way she'd embraced her, her arms felt tense, frozen on her back. She liked it. Kind of at least. She'd forgotten what it was like to have the "Alison" effect on people.
When she pulled away, she took in Emily's appearance for the first time. Emily was wearing form fitting jeans, sneakers, and a loud, orange top. No jacket.
"Emily," she started exasperated. "You can not wear that."
Emily looked innocently at her shirt.
"Why, what's wrong?"
"I'm pretty sure astronauts in space can see that top."
"It's not that bad, is it?"
"That is bright orange, neon orange," Alison said, scanning over the shirt again, picking at the hem. "Flaming you could even say." She couldn't help but smirk slightly.
"Well," Emily responded, looking a touch embarrassed. "Do you have something I could borrow? We could go upstairs?"
"No," she responded quickly. "Let's go to your house."
Emily looked at her questioningly.
"My brother is still up watching—" it took her a second to think of a lie, what was even on TV now? What would he watch? "some X games show where guys are constantly wracking themselves on bars." That was still a thing, right?
"Oh, sure," Emily responded, not even looking like she slightly suspected Ali of lying. So sweet, Ali thought. "Do you want to take your car?"
Ali went from smiling sweetly at Emily to notably bristling. She didn't have a car. Courtney did. She wondered what kind it was, glancing curiously at the DiLaurentis three car garage. A beamer? A Mercedes, like her parents?
"No, let's walk," she responded back with a clenched jaw. She could check what kind it was later. Maybe even break into it, look for something to steal. If only her "A" ring was in there. But she doubted Courtney ever let that out of her sight.
Emily nodded, turning back towards the side walk. As they walked, Alison let her lead, pretending to look around distracted, but honestly she had no idea where Emily lived. She hoped Emily couldn't tell, the brunette kept stealing furtive glances at Ali. Was she always like this? This girl could stare and stare and stare. She was happy her hoodie was up, lest Emily could spot any differences between she and Courtney. And there were differences between them. Even if Alison's own damn parents couldn't tell them apart, she knew that her eyes were bluer, that her hair was darker, that she was just perceptibly more beautiful than Courtney. But she wasn't in shape any more. If Courtney still did her sport, field hockey, she'd be a lot more toned. And tan. Alison was happy it was night time.
It wasn't a long before they came upon an old, stately looking two story home. Emily led the way to the front door, looking uneasy.
"My mom is home, but she should be asleep, we need to be quiet," she whispered to Alison, who nodded.
Emily quietly opened the front door and Alison immediately noticed the wood floors. She tried her best to be as light as possible, but there were still a few creaks as they quickly crossed to the stairs. Emily jumped the first step and Ali copied her, relieved that Emily had gone first. A blunder like that, not skipping a stair that Courtney would've known like the back of her hand, might've caused Emily to suspect something.
Emily silently padded down the upstairs hall and slowly opened the first door that came up on the left. This must be her room, Alison thought following close behind. When they entered, the room was blanketed in darkness. Ali could barely make out a thing other than Emily's shadowed back. But Emily silently moved to the right, switching on her bedside light. She softly smiled at Alison before crossing to her closet, her hand shifting inside, sifting through her clothing.
While Emily's back was turned, Ali took the opportunity to look over her bedroom. Emily had an entire shelf lined with swimming medals and trophies. That explained her well-muscled body. Emily Fields, she read on a Stanford acceptance letter pinned to a cork board next to the trophy shelf. That was good, she hadn't been entirely sure of her last name. The rest of the room was, the only word Ali could think of was "cute." Her eyes glazed over the bookshelves, her desk, until they fell onto a picture, a familiar face.
She moved over to the desk, picking up the frame. It was Courtney and Emily. She'd seen this photo before, this same one in Courtney's bedroom. Their heads were pressed close, their smiles huge and authentic. Their happiness was palpable. Examining the picture closer, she wondered if Courtney might've returned the feelings Emily had for her, how Courtney might've reacted if it had been her receiving her proclamation of love in their front yard. Alison felt a stab of…she wasn't sure what.
She put it down, uncomfortable with the feeling. She realized she didn't know what Courtney might've done. She barely knew her sister. Maybe Courtney was gay. She looked back at Emily, who was bent over in her closet, rooting through a basket. Alison's eyes unconsciously followed the lines of her calves and her thighs, all the way up to her round backside. If Courtney was going to be gay, it would definitely be for this girl. I mean, I have eyes, Ali thought, trying to rationalize checking Emily out. She could see Emily was alarmingly pretty. Actress pretty.
At that moment, Emily stood and turned, making Ali almost jump, making her feel like she'd been caught doing something weird. She set the photo frame down inconspicuously as Emily held up another top. It was blue.
"God, you're adorable, Em," Ali said tilting her head to the side. This girl. She was so innocent. "But you need something dark, preferably black. You don't want people to recognize you."
Emily looked at Alison skeptically.
"And why don't I want people to recognize me? What exactly are we doing, Ali?"
Ali, Ali, Ali. Alison could listen to Emily say her name all day. She was enjoying it so much, she'd almost not heard her question at all. Remembering, Alison just smiled at Emily mysteriously. She couldn't tell her too much of the plan because maybe Emily wouldn't come. And she needed her car. So, the less she said around her and the more she listened, the better.
"Here," Ali said as she moved past her on the way to Emily's closet. Ali could smell the scent of chlorine, still faintly lingering on Emily, as she passed her. Swimmer, she thought again. She probably looked even better in water.
"Ali..." Emily said slowly. Mmmm, yes, Em, Alison thought. Say it again. "Are we doing something illegal?"
Ali sighed. "You're starting to sound like a real Mrs. Fields, Em. It's not a good look," she said, throwing back a mocking, half smile. Frankly, she was proud of herself for the reference. She couldn't have even come up with that if she wasn't such a good little spy. She was so smart.
Ali turned back to the closet, self-satisfied. She hunted through it, quickly grabbing a black jersey that had some dark purple lettering on it.
"This is perfect, very sporty chic," she said with a double eyebrow raise, holding it out to Emily. Emily took it uncertainly.
"And these," she added, grabbing some of Emily's tight black running leggings. "And this." She ended handing Emily a black jacket.
Emily just held the pile quizzically, like she had a baby in her hands that she didn't quite know what to do with.
"All black? I'm going to look like a criminal."
"That's the idea," Ali said lightly. Emily gaped.
"Why?" she asked, vexed. "Are we robbing a bank?"
"What if I said yes, Em? Would you do it with me?" Alison replied, smiling her thousand watt smile over her shoulder as she bent over, reaching to grab a pair of black boots.
Alison could tell Emily was caught off guard by the question, by how overtly flirty Ali was being. But it felt nice to feel wanted, to feel sexy to someone. She noticed Emily glance unconsciously at her ass as well. Yep, that's right. Your turn. But she felt the smile fall off her face the second she wondered if this was how her sister felt, if this was why Courtney kept Emily close. She felt something briefly jolt through her, again, maybe the same feeling from before. Jealousy?
Ugh. I should probably stop, Alison thought unpleasantly. She didn't really need to play this role so well. She didn't need to mess with this poor girl's emotions in exchange for her help for one night. But she couldn't deny that it felt good in an odd, inexplicable way. This wasn't just some random, asshole guy that wanted to bang Courtney. This was Emily, an all star swimmer, a total fox, and obviously a sweet and loyal friend. It felt special to have her love. Even if it wasn't totally hers, it could've been, maybe would've been if Courtney and her roles had been reversed.
"Of course you would," she said confidently as Emily still stammered to respond. She tossed the black boots towards her.
Emily looked over the clothes again, her jaw tight, making no clear movement to put them on. Alison could practically read every single anxious thought running through her head. Like an eye chart who's every letter was the giant top E. E for Emily.
"Oh, calm down, Nervous Nelly," she tried to assure her. "We're not doing anything illegal. I just don't want someone seeing us around and telling our parents."
Emily nodded, looking more comforted by that but still apprehensive. She picked up the clothes but glanced at Alison, looking concerned, before making a small move towards the door.
"You can change in front of me, you know," Alison said with a lilt in her voice, sure she'd read her mind correctly again. She couldn't help teasing her, she liked seeing Emily blush. She was starting to like the way Emily stared, the way Emily looked at her. The sun shines out of my ass now, Courtney.
Emily smiled awkwardly, but she took the pile of clothes and left the room anyway. Ali sighed. Hopefully, she could bring her out of her shell a little bit. Emily honestly didn't seem to be aware of how gorgeous she was. A little more confidence, and she could have anyone she wanted.
But she wants you. No, not you, she thought. Your stupid sister.
What a waste.
Gritting her teeth, she moved to Emily's window where there was a nice little window seat. She gazed down at the seat cushion and noticed a release latch that she could use to open it, that there was probably storage underneath. Curiously, she lifted the seat lid, and looked down at a long, black, rope ladder. Jack pot.
She turned, holding it up, when she heard the door creak back open, smiling her half smile.
"You ever have boys climb up this, sweet Emily?"
Emily glanced at the ladder and then back at Ali, blushing.
"No, I-uh—"
"Girls?" Ali interrupted, lifting an eyebrow.
"No, Ali, I haven't ever—no boys, no—" she sputtered, embarrassed. Ali was sure she was going to say, "girls", but instead she finished, "no one's used it. My dad's just paranoid about a fire."
Well, at least that answered a lingering question Ali had, whether Emily had had well-known crushes on other girls before. Whether or not she was openly gay. She felt a little swell of pride that Courtney/she was the only one Emily appeared to feel that way about.
Ali fingered the coarse material in her hand. "Can I borrow it?"
"Yeah," Emily answered. Ali wasn't surprised, she got the distinct feeling that Emily would give her anything she asked.
"Great," she said, smiling. Her luck was definitely on the turn. This ladder would be perfect for when they fixed the fallen branch. She pulled it out of the box and slung it over her shoulder, it was heavy as shit. She crossed the room, her eyes sweeping over Emily's new outfit for the first time.
"Much better, by the way," she said moving her hands down Emily's arms, over the black jacket. She turned Emily towards a standup mirror in the corner of her room.
"Bonnie and Clyde."
Ali was acting differently, but Emily wasn't quite sure how. It was little things, though. She seemed quieter, listening and watching Emily more than usual. Ali would usually dominate her and her friends in conversation, corralling them where she wanted them to go like lambs for slaughter. It wasn't that Ali didn't care about what they had to say, it just always seemed like she knew exactly what she wanted from each of them and didn't appreciate deviances from that agenda.
But the main jarring difference for Emily wasn't that. It was how flirty Alison was acting. How phenomenally more touchy. Emily could count the number of times Ali had been physically close to her in the last several years. She could count them because she'd memorized all of them, the dates, the images burned into her brain, ready to play at odd, inconvenient times like during tests or late at night when she was trying to sleep. But over the last two nights, that number had doubled and, if it stayed on its current course, would triple.
Emily thought that maybe it had to do what she'd told Alison. About the way she'd felt. About the burden she'd carried since she'd realized the terrible, all consuming crush she'd developed on her. She thought the little differences could maybe, hopefully, be credited to Ali's way of saying she felt the same. Or at least that she was getting there.
After Ali weirdly made Emily change her clothes, she asked her to drive her somewhere, still not giving her an address, just directions. Emily had no idea what they were doing or where they were going, but she did feel a little thrill in the back of her throat, a jumpiness in her chest. She'd practically been obsessing about Alison all day. It had been incredibly difficult at first not to corner her at school, but it became easier when Ali had acted just like she said she would. Completely oblivious. Not a breath to Emily about what had transpired. And now that Ali was finally alone with her, Emily was nervous, giddy. She was excited Ali would trust her with something like this, whatever "this" was. It was rare to have Ali's full and singular attention, and Emily wanted to capitalize on it. Even half the time they spent together, Ali would be on her phone. Or she'd pick it up the second it buzzed. She hadn't seen her on it once tonight, though, and it was nice. She was happy Ali was acting normal again. Well, sort of at least.
"Here it is," Ali said, craning her neck to peer out of Emily's driver's side window.
Apparently dissatisfied with the view, she leaned her body across Emily's for a better look, her hand resting on the door frame, her arm brushing the top of Emily's thighs. Her hair hung in front of Emily's face, smelling sweet, like vanilla. It seemed different than how Alison usually smelled, but, regardless, Emily thought she could die in that scent. She had to force herself to act as normal as she could, following Ali's gaze with a jerky head motion, terrified to make a move in case she touched Alison. She could've sworn Ali wore a small smirk.
Focusing on what she saw, it wasn't much to look at to Emily. Just a typical looking storage place. It was a bit shoddy and run down, which didn't surprise her since they'd driven to the outskirts of town. Frankly, a part of Rosewood Emily's dad had told her not to visit. And it was night time. She didn't think he would be very pleased if he could see her now.
"Park around the back," Ali instructed as she moved back into her seat. Emily waited for further explanation, but Ali just looked back at her expectantly.
"We're not driving in?" Emily asked.
"No, I don't want your car on the security cameras," she replied, as if this the most normal thing in the world to say.
"Ali," Emily said sternly, and, wow, she did sound like her mother. "You're not making me feel better about this not being illegal."
"It's not, I promise," she said easily, with a shrug.
It made Emily wonder if Ali did things like this all the time, without her friends knowledge. Emily had always known she was secretive and guarded, but never to what extent. If Ali had ever done anything like this, she certainly didn't do it with Emily. She knew how straight-laced and vanilla Emily could be. It seemed like she knew that now, as Ali looked back at her with dissatisfaction, like Emily's reservation was cramping her style. Emily didn't want to disappoint her, though, she wanted to be a part of her secret. She also wanted Ali to keep touching her, to keep leaning over her seat, so she relented and moved the car around to the back of the facility.
They hopped out onto a lonely, darkly lit street. Emily had to resist the urge to sprint to wherever they were going, she did not feel safe. She followed Ali closely, practically on top of her, like Ali was her guard dog. But then Ali stopped sharply causing Emily's front to collide with her back. Ali turned swiftly, seemingly unfazed but Emily's clumsiness, so close to Emily that she could feel the blonde's breath on her cheek.
"Pull your hoodie up," she said quietly. Emily did it, unable to pull her eyes from Ali's beautiful heart shaped face.
Ali turned again, circling around to the side of the building. She looked up as they crossed through a small ray of light, her eyes following it to an open window. They could hear soft country music floating out into the night, could see the outline of a figure sitting at a desk. Probably the night manager, Emily thought. Ali glanced back at her, putting a slender finger to her lips, before slipping past the window towards the car entry gate.
After appraising the gate for a few moments, her deep blue eyes scanning the tall bars, she picked an area that had the biggest gap.
"Have you been here before?" Emily whispered. This all seemed a little too second nature for Alison.
"No," she said back, but her tone was unusually higher. Emily wasn't convinced.
Alison made a move to squeeze through the bars, but Emily caught her arm, causing the blonde to look at her inquiringly.
"My head is not going to fit through there, Alison," Emily murmured urgently.
But Alison nimbly shifted out of Emily's grip, pushing her body through the small opening. She smiled at Emily on the other side and held out her hand. "Come on, killer."
Emily could immediately feel her face color. Ali had never called her that nickname, and she wasn't totally sure what she meant. Was she making fun of Emily for being so hesitant? Flustered but now motivated to at least give it a try, Emily took her hand and tried to get through the two cold, metal bars. It took some strategic maneuvering and definitely wasn't as graceful or as fluid as Alison's entry, but she finally made it. Ali arched an eyebrow, impressed, but Emily could only focus on Ali's warm fingers pressed against her own.
"What now?" she asked, her heart hammering.
"Follow me," Ali whispered, towing Emily by their conjoined hands across the vacant lot.
She looked down several rows of storage units, as if she was trying to remember something, before finally settling on the third to last row. She walked up to a unit, looking at the numbers, and stopped in front of "455." Her eyes fell on two thick padlocks. She crouched down next to them, pulling two thin instruments out of her backpack.
"What are you doing?" Emily rasped in a whisper.
"What does it look like?" she replied as she slid the two pieces steadily into the key hole.
"Ali, are you insane?" Emily continued, disbelievingly. Was Ali secretly a spy? Did she lead a double life?
"That's what they keep telling me," she whispered under her breath. What? Emily thought, looking at Alison strangely for a second. But Ali ignored it.
"Ali," Emily said more resolutely, feeling her panic surge. She placed her hand on Alison's, stopping her from moving the lock picks. "You said we wouldn't be breaking any laws. This is definitely a crime."
"Look, Emily," she said, standing. "This is my family's storage unit, you can't break into something that's yours."
"If it's yours, why are we breaking into it at all?"
"I don't have the key, my parents have it," she countered.
"Why couldn't you ask them for it?"
"Do you always ask so many questions?" she said back in a huff, her voice raising just a hair above whispering.
But Emily just stood there, crossing her arms. She reminded Ali of the horses her family would visit when she and Courtney took riding lessons back in Connecticut. The stubborn ones that wouldn't budge when you wanted them to move.
"I promise we won't get into trouble, okay?' she said moving closer to Emily. "I promise it's my family's unit. You just have to trust me."
Ali took Emily's hand again, forcing her to unfold her crossed arms. Emily's gaze softened a little at that, her eyes lingering on their intertwined fingers. Emily liked it. Ali's hands were warm and dry, not cold or sticky. They were softer than any guys, and Emily's hand was big enough to hold hers easily within, a novelty. She had never really held another girl's hand before, at least not like this.
Ali stared down at their hands, too, before she surprised Emily by pushing their palms flat, lifting them up to her eyes. Her hoodie fell back slightly, revealing the cerulean irises that Emily had so come to love. They looked just a little bluer tonight. Maybe it was just the low light or the adrenaline coursing through Emily's body. It took a moment for Emily to realize that Ali was measuring how much longer Emily's fingers were compared to her own. This was not something Ali had ever done, and it was definitely going down as a highlight in Emily's "Ali Touches" memory bank.
"God, Emily," she said, indicating how Emily almost had a full finger tip length over each of her fingers. "This is why you're so good at swimming."
Emily smiled bashfully, pressing harder back against Ali's palm, pushing her wrist back a little, causing Ali's eyes to flicker to hers. Maintaining eye contact, a small smile forming at the corner of her mouth, Ali stretched their arms out, her fingers sliding down to Emily's wrist, lightly under the sleeve of her jacket. She looked at it again, observing how Emily's arm, too, was much longer than hers.
"And other things, too, I bet," she added quietly.
Emily could hardly breathe. She felt a tingle travel all the way from where Ali's fingers played lightly against her skin to her stomach. And lower.
"What do you mean?" Emily barely managed to say.
"Piano," she winked, but Emily had the distinct impression that that was not what she meant.
"Hold on," she said, dropping their hands. "This lock isn't going to pick itself."
She crouched back down and continued her work. It actually took less time than Emily would've thought. Not that she would've known how much time lock picking took anyway. But after several minutes, she heard the first lock pop open followed by the second a few minutes later. Emily was impressed.
"Wow, Ali, you have to teach me how to do that."
"Really?" she said with a teasing smile, dropping the lock to the ground with a loud metallic clink. "Emily, Patron Saint of Rules, wants to learn how to lock pick?"
"I think if I were a saint, I wouldn't be here right now," Emily replied dryly.
"Too true," she conceded. "Saints are overrated anyway," she said, her impish smile still on her pink lips as she leaned over to lift the sliding, overhead door.
Emily moved to help her, both of them lifting it as quietly and slowly as they could.
Ali's heart was racing as they slid open the storage unit door. She liked to think it was not only because she'd practically eye sexed the shit out of Emily, but because she was so close to her goal.
"It's so dark in here," Emily commented, and it was true, it was basically pitch black. Ali could only blindly make out the silhouette of several boxes and bins stacked up.
"Here, give me your phone as a light," she said, holding out her hand to Emily.
Emily slid her phone out of her pocket, but asked, "Shouldn't we both use our phones?"
Shit, Ali thought. "No, I need you to be the lookout."
Emily seemed to buy that, turning her back to look down the row of storage units. Good, she didn't really want Emily to see too much of anything in here, anyway. What if there were photos of her and Courtney?
With the help of Emily's phone light, she immediately spotted what she was looking for: a stack of brown boxes and plastic bins with the large letter 'C' sharpied onto their surfaces. She'd lied to Emily earlier. She had been here before. When her parents had allowed her to come home from Radley in 10th grade, they'd stopped at this storage unit to grab containers of Courtney's old things. Back then, Alison had noticed that several of the items had been hers originally, Courtney must've tried to get rid of them in the two years she'd been gone, when she'd taken over Alison's life, and her parents must've put them in this unit with everything else. It was ironic, after all, receiving the same discarded comforter, posters, vanity set she'd once had as Alison back as "Courtney." So fucking funny.
She pulled them down from where they were stacked, ripping them open as quietly as she could. This caused Emily to gaze back at her, glancing at other items in the unit.
"Hey, isn't this your old bedroom furniture?"
"You—you remember that?" Ali said, looking up, slightly surprised. She felt a flicker of something hard to pinpoint, a thrill, an elation. It was endearing that Emily remembered everything about Courtney so far back that she could almost even remember Ali.
"Yeah, you used that mirror when we first became friends. Remember, in 9th grade?" she asked with a smile that Alison could just make out in the blackness. "You said that a new grade meant a new you, and it was time for a fresh start."
This made Ali frown. Of course Courtney said that.
"Right," she said darkly, looking back into the box, angrily moving several papers around.
Emily seemed to notice her change in mood, shifting uncomfortably.
"Well, I'm glad this is actually your unit," she added, sounding relieved that they hadn't totally broken a law.
"I told you," she said, glancing back up at Emily. Alison thought it was cute if she was trying to make her feel better. It did, a little. She wasn't always a liar.
"What are you looking for, anyway?"
"My parents took something away from me a few years ago," she said distractedly, discovering the second box was a bust, too. She moved on to the next one.
"Something precious. I want it back. I think they may have hidden from me in here. That's why I couldn't ask for the key."
It was partially true. Her parents had taken something from her: her freedom, her identity, her family. But also, when Ali had returned home after leaving the unit, she'd immediately collected as much money as she could find in the household. Institutionalization makes you crazy that way, she thought bitterly. She'd been like a weird magpie, gathering and hiding as many treasures as she could find. Especially things that had originally been hers. An old silver necklace, a beautifully inscribed makeup compact, and, by far the most valuable, a key to the DiLaurentis house off of Courtney's key ring.
She'd hidden her hoard in an old lunchbox they'd brought back from this very unit. She hadn't had time to get it before she was carted away again, but she had a hunch that they would've packed all her things up, lunchbox included, and never once looked at any of it again. Just like they'd treated Alison, that's how her family liked to deal with problems. Hide them and forget about them in some dank, dark, dirty place like this storage unit.
Emily watched Ali as she sighed, moving into the fourth box, pulling out random objects and mementos until her hand finally lit on what she was looking for.
"Yes," she hissed, feeling cool, hard metal. She practically ripped the lunchbox out of the cardboard, stuffed animals flying across the floor.
She stood up, not caring how loud that might've been, feeling victorious, feeling a frenzied, greedy need to get away with her treasure while she still could.
"Is that it?"
"Yes," she said, again, smiling at Emily.
"Good, let's go, I don't like it here," Emily said with a fearful look back at the lot.
As she moved toward the exit, Alison felt her foot crinkle and crush a piece of loose paper. She looked down, assuming it had flown out during her search for her lunchbox, but her eyes landed on the word "Radley." She leaned over to pick it up. It was some sort of payment slip.
Radley Sanitarium: October Statement
Invoiced to: Peter Hastings
Total: $1,036
"What?" she whispered, not really meaning to say it out loud.
Emily looked back towards her. "What is it?"
"Nothing," she said, smashing the paper into her backpack with the lunchbox. "Let's get out of here."
They pulled the door shut and popped the two locks back in place. As they were about to round the corner back into the main lot, Alison saw an oval, white light spark across the concrete. A flashlight. She took in a sharp breath, crashing to a stop, Emily plowing into her back for the second time that night. She turned, panicked, and motioned Emily to go back the other way. They ran wildly, trying not to make noise, and rounded the back end of the row of storage units.
In the dark, Ali didn't see the outline of large, wooden light pole, and slammed directly into it, face first.
"Fuck!" she cursed as quietly as she could, holding her nose. She just barely managed to grab Emily's shoulders before she did the exact same thing, the brunette's face swinging just inches from the pole. Ali could feel something wet on her hand, but she was too scared to stop, wiping her face with her sleeve.
"Ali, are you okay?" Emily asked, worried, but Ali waved her away as they continued back toward the car entry gate. They quickly slipped back through the bars and ran as fast as they could to Emily's parked car.
"Go, go, go," Ali hissed at Emily as she jumped in, though her voice sounded thick and muddled, a metallic taste dripping in her throat.
Emily's Toyota peeled away from the building, speeding down the dark street. Ali looked back, her eyes wide, terrified she'd see a car in hot pursuit. But it didn't look like anyone was following them. Her hands were still shaking, though, and she could hear Emily taking ragged breaths.
After a few minutes of Ali desperately trying to calm her racing heart, she reached up to touch the underside of her nose, it was still throbbing. She pulled her finger back to find it covered in a dark, red liquid. With her stomach still churning from the fear of just barely getting away, her overall general lack of sleep and exhaustion, the sight of her own blood made her feel a little queasy, light headed.
"Ali, oh my god, you're bleeding," Emily said, upset, looking at Ali's hand.
Ali didn't respond, just slumped back in her seat, becoming increasingly concerned that she might faint.
Emily immediately whipped the car onto the side of the road. It was lined with looming, thin birch trees. She could see the faint whiteness of their bark, even in the black night, and Alison had a dim, frantic memory of crossing this road when she'd first escaped from Radley. She remembered thinking they'd looked like tall, telephone poles. As she felt her vision begin to blur, black edges closing in around the image of the shadowed trees, she felt warm hands on her cheeks, delicate fingers digging into the hollow of her jaw. Emily was turning Ali's face away from the window to face her.
"Here," she said, her face inches from Ali's. She pushed a napkin firmly into the base of Ali's nose, just below her nostrils. It stung slightly at first, but then just felt like a dull ache.
As Emily held her there, Ali stared back into Emily's eyes, unable to look anywhere else, really. She followed the round curvature of Emily's lids to her dark full lashes, looking at flecks of gold and light brown around her irises. As the minutes passed, Emily occasionally checking the napkin for dark spots of blood, Alison didn't feel as lightheaded any more, but was experiencing a different kind of feeling entirely. Something heated.
"Did it stop?" Ali practically sighed as Emily cradled her neck more gently, putting the napkin into one of the cup holders.
"Yeah," Emily said, her thumb gingerly moving over Ali's cheek bone.
Ali didn't really know what she was doing when she moved her head harder into Emily's hand, turning slightly to feel the pressure of Emily's thumb glide lightly over her lips. Maybe she was still delirious from the blood. Maybe she was still afraid from their escape. Or maybe it was because no one had really touched her like this before. Even in the bumbling kisses Ali had shared with guys, their hands had been groping and nervous. No one had held her so preciously, so mindfully. No one's hands had been so soft.
Emily's eyes widened as Ali's lips parted at her touch, her eyes immediately flickering to Ali's mouth. Ali inadvertently mirrored the movement as she thought in a strange, out of body sort of way, what it would feel like, kissing Emily. How was she supposed to think about anything else when Emily was this close to her? Emily's lips were big, but not huge. Perfectly sized. Like Ali's would fit seamlessly against them. Two puzzle pieces. She felt herself move forward, like she was being pulled in by some powerful magnetic force. Emily closed her eyes.
Just as she was about to close hers too, the ghost of Emily's mouth already on hers, both of them breathing the same air, she saw the light of an oncoming car's headlights flash over Emily's face.
Oh my God, what am I doing? she thought suddenly, pulling back.
"Thanks, Em" she managed to reply, looking worriedly at the approaching car. Emily's eyes fluttered open, following the point of Ali's attention, and they both watched the car as it continued past. Ali breathed a sigh of relief.
Emily averted her gaze, looking dazed and even slightly mortified. She leaned back onto her side of the car, pulling her hands stiffly into her lap. Ali's relief was short-lived as she remembered what had just happened, or almost happened. Her thoughts began racing—what the fuck?! Why did she have to touch me like that? Why did you LEAN in? Were you going to KISS her?! Get your fucking shit together!—as they sat there in an awkward kind of silence.
"Before you take me home," Alison started, her voice coming out husky, betraying a bit of the stormy internal struggle she was experiencing. "Could we-could we stop at a convenience store? I want to buy a burner phone."
Emily looked at her like this was about the 19th thing she had said tonight that hadn't made any sense at all.
"My parents have been taking my phone lately and reading all my texts," she tried to explain. "I don't want them to find out about this—to know what I'm looking for," she quickly amended, turning her head away so Emily couldn't see her blush.
"Why wouldn't you ask Caleb? He can do that for you," Emily suggested inquisitively.
"He has… an extra?" Alison hazarded a guess, swallowing, and turning back to look at Emily.
"Yeah, I'm sure," she answered as if this were obvious, like Alison might've lost a bit too much blood during her nose bleed. With what she'd almost done, maybe she had.
Either way, this information was encouraging. This "Caleb" sounded like exactly the character she needed. She covertly glanced at Emily's phone. She would need to memorize his number. And Courtney's.
"Well, I want to be able to call you immediately, so I don't know if it can wait. But I'll talk to him about it."
"Okay," Emily said with a soft smile. "I'll take you to the gas station right up here." She shifted the car back into gear and pulled back out onto the road.
Ali intently watched the side of her face, trying to spot some sort of distinctive feature about Emily that could explain away Ali's bizarre actions. The flirting was different, it was harmless. Just for fun. Ali liked the attention. But kissing Emily? There was no reason at all to do that. But, to her dismay however, she didn't see any special seductive quality, Emily just looked deep in thought, chewing slightly on her bottom lip. Ali glanced at it, feeling a sensation shoot directly to her core.
Good God, Ali, get a grip. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, quickly pushing Emily out of her mind, forcing herself to focus on her plan. Eye on the prize.
"Can he make a fake ID, too?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
"Did you lose yours?" Emily asked, turning into the gas station parking lot.
Ali couldn't help but smile sardonically. Of course Courtney had a fake ID.
"Yeah, my parents took it."
"Yeah, he can make you another one," Emily said as they pulled into a parking spot. Before Ali got out of the car, she turned to Emily with a serious expression.
"Emily," she started. "Please don't talk about the storage unit in front of the others. I'm not ready—I'm not ready to share it with them yet. Only talk about what we're doing to me on this burner phone or at night when we're meeting. Do you understand?"
"Yes," she said, though it was obvious she didn't totally.
"Don't worry, it's just temporary," Ali smiled. "Everything will be over soon."
Leave me a review and stay tuned, kissing rock in the next chapter!