Thank you so much for the reviews and views!
Guest: To the guest who mentioned Haleb, I loved your idea so keep an eye out for that conversation this chapter!
T: Don't worry, I won't go down the affair route. I was interested in seeing Emily pursue a different career, though. Thanks for the suggestion!
For those I haven't addressed but have left their input on what they want to see happen with the Liars' lives, I promise I am not ignoring you. I actually have a document containing all of your ideas and suggestions. I wish I could say I will use them all, but I may not be able to. I would specifically appreciate more input on Emily and Hanna, though, just because I feel like I'm working with less material with them than with Spencer and Aria. (As a natural Ezria shipper and Sparia adorer, it's just easier for me to write more for them than the others.) This chapter is almost 1,000 words shorter than the last, but I want to flesh out their storylines just as much!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 2
Emily
Emily woke up at 6AM on a Saturday to clear her head. She slipped out of bed, quickly checked on the peacefully sleeping babies, and threw on some active wear. She plugged up her ears with her running soundtrack and flew across the streets of Rosewood. After an hour of running (with a couple of breaks in between), she didn't want to stop. It was only 7:30AM and she wanted to keep running all morning. But instead of doing that, she decided to shoot Ali a text about how she was shopping for the morning and ran over to The Brew.
When she got there, her heart fluttered to see her three best friends had gotten up in the early hours to see her. "Thank you for responding to my text," she said, sinking into the welcome hug she got from Hanna. She didn't want that to end, either, but Hanna was first to pull away. "Of course, Em. We understand how rough things have been lately…"
The girls glanced at each other awkwardly. This was the first time in months they had gotten together without Alison. But as much as Emily loved her fiancée, she needed something else to talk about, so she quickly changed the topic. "So, may I ask what all of you were doing up so early on a Saturday?" She mostly meant the question for Aria and Hanna, because Spencer was the only one of the bunch who was a genuine early riser. Emily pushed herself to be like that, but she was prone to sleeping in on a weekend every so often.
Hanna nonchalantly said, "Morning sickness. It's probably the worst thing I've ever experienced."
Aria's truth was the same as Hanna's but she lied and said, "Ezra went for an early run and woke me up when he broke the coffee pot. I thought I was going to kill him, but I thought I should give him a second chance." Aria lived for her coffee and everyone knew it. The one thing nobody knew was that she was now drinking decaf.
"Props to you, Aria. If my coffee pot died, I think I would, too."
"And I was—"
"You can save it, Spencer, we all know you were up starting your scholarly pursuits extra early," Hanna interrupted. Spencer had no comment because Hanna was right, so she instead took a long, burning sip of black coffee.
Aria got up and offered Emily some coffee. "Yes, please," Emily said. "Usually my morning runs energize me, but lately I've just been feeling exhausted."
"Have the babies been keeping you up?" Spencer inquired as Aria handed Emily a steaming mug.
"Okay, what's worse, morning sickness or sleep deprivation?" Hanna, again, interrupted.
Emily shrugged. "I don't know. That's more of an Ali question…"
There, she slipped in again. Alison. For the past ten years of Emily's life, everything was about Ali, Ali, Ali. Even when she wasn't around, Emily's mind was captivated by her. A part of her loved it, but a part of her loathed it. What happened to the Emily who had interests outside of her love life? She loved running, but it didn't seem to love her anymore. Was that Alison's influence? Maybe she hadn't known the post-teenage Ali long enough yet…
"Em?" Aria reached out and placed her hand over Emily's. "You okay?"
Emily reassuringly squeezed Aria's hand and took a mega sip of her coffee, not even caring that Aria hadn't put enough cream in it. "I don't know. Honestly…" She glanced out the window, at the sun peeking between the buildings in the distance. "I don't know if I'm happy anymore."
The honeymoon phase, Emily realized as she bid her friends goodbye for the morning and jogged to the grocery store, was a legitimate thing. She and Alison weren't even married and they had already gone through it. Emily could see in Alison's eyes that she was still in it. But, after drowning in Ali for over a year, she needed her space again. She needed to redefine the Emily with Alison, bring her back to her roots.
As Emily approached the grocery store, she slowed down and took a breather for a minute. While she was monitoring her breathing and studying the beautiful morning sky covering the idyllic town center of Rosewood, she spotted a wall covered in flyers. In bright, bold lettering were the words CAREER COUNSELING. Emily strode up to it and plucked it off the wall. As much as she loved to swim, she wasn't sure if coaching was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to branch away from Ali.
Whenever Emily had these thoughts, she was worried that it meant she didn't love Alison anymore. But she reminded herself that branches bloomed better and more beautiful when they had their space. She and Ali had to find their space and balance and their relationship will blossom into what should hopefully be the rest of their lives.
When Emily returned that morning, Alison was waiting in the kitchen, leaning on the counter while drinking an herbal tea. Unlike the other girls, she wasn't the biggest fan of coffee, and was only getting less fond of it as time went on. "Did you have a nice run?"
Emily took a deep breath, prepared to broach what may or may not be a tough conversation with Alison. "Yeah, it was nice…" She placed some grocery bags on the table, and by the stance Emily took—avoiding Alison's eyes, deep in thought, distracted—Alison knew they were going to go over something rocky. "Listen, Ali…"
And Emily explained to Alison her idea to find a new job outside of Rosewood High, so they could find that work-life balance Emily was craving. At first, Alison was hurt by the prospect that Emily wanted to leave Rosewood High because of her. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that maybe she was smothering Emily too much, and the last thing she wanted to do was scare her away again. "Em, if this is something you want, I'll support you through it." Emily smiled at her gratefully. "Do you know what you might want to do outside of teaching?"
"No…" Emily held up the flyer. "That's what this is for."
And before they could get too far in embarking on their new journey, shrieks filled the house and Emily and Alison went up together to take care of whatever Grace and Lily wanted this time.
Hanna
Hanna returned to the loft that morning slightly agitated. "Ugh, I hate decaf!" she groaned as she plopped her bag on the ground next to the door. "What am I supposed to do now when I feel so tired?"
Caleb was sitting on the couch, watching the cooking channel which became his new obsession after he couldn't decipher what kind of media he was watching. Hanna stomped over to him and curled up on his side, dropping her head onto his shoulder. "I don't know, maybe try going to bed before two in the morning?"
Hanna couldn't help it. She was a night owl since she was born. Her creativity flourished in the night, but she couldn't fight for long that society's system had everyone up and going before eight. She might be self-employed now, but who knew how long that was going to last. As amazing as her fashion empire was growing, it wasn't going to be enough. She needed to find something solid to lean against until it was built securely to the top—and that could mean an office job yet again.
"I think I'm going to nap here then." She started shutting her eyes, not expecting Caleb to go along with it—he had work to do, too—but she felt his arm wrap around her and she promptly fell asleep.
She dreamed that she was Hefty Hanna, but this time a 25-year-old version of Hefty Hanna. She was at a dinner party with her friends, and for whatever reason they were all 14. The Blonde Leader snarled at Hanna, then uplifted her lips with a smirk. "I thought you gave birth already, Hanna. Or did they leave some quadruplets in there?" Alison began laughing, and the others chimed in half-heartedly, just like they always had when Alison bullied them as a joke.
Before Hanna could suffer any more of Alison's sneers, she jerked awake and was caught around the waist by Caleb. "Is everything okay?" he asked, concerned, as her hand flew to her rapidly beating heart and she caught her breath.
"Yes…" But her throat tightened in the lie. "No. Caleb, I need to tell you something."
Caleb's arm gripped tighter around Hanna, pulling her closer. "What is it?"
"I'm… I'm scared, okay?" She rubbed her throat, wishing it would loosen. "I pushed this pregnancy thing too soon, I think…"
"Hanna." Caleb grabbed the hand that was clawing at her neck and gently squeezed it. "If this is because you're afraid of being a mom… You're going to be a great one, and everyone knows it."
Hanna pushed out of Caleb's embrace and flew off of the couch. "This isn't about being a mom, Caleb! God…" Her hand flew up to her mouth as tears pricked her eyes. "It's all about my insecurities… My body…" She hadn't had any problems with her weight in years; it had fortunately stayed steady thanks to the healthy habits she'd developed to maintain it, but now, with pregnancy, she wasn't so sure. Would her own baby be her undoing?
The flashbacks struck her in the brain stem: the fat rolls, the multiple chins, the never-ending feeling of bloating and hunger. Oh God, the hunger. Her stomach couldn't stop craving food once it got used to the humungous amounts she stuffed in it.
Hanna hadn't mentioned it to anyone earlier, but the morning sickness reminded her of when she used to throw up. Just part of the daily routine to feel the bile rise up in her throat. It made her want to be sick again. She grasped her bloated belly and it made her feel fat, even though she wasn't. Instead, it was her worst nightmare—and she didn't want to think of her baby as a nightmare.
As she started to cry, Caleb could only watch on in shock. He hadn't been around when Hanna had her eating disorder, so he didn't know necessarily what to do or what to say. He could comfort her and raise her spirits up, sure, but would that be enough? He didn't know how to sensitively say, "Hanna, if you're afraid of falling back into old habits, then we need to figure a way to handle this insecurity and need to control. You can't starve yourself without starving the baby." He didn't want to make Hanna feel like she needed to lock her concerns away "for the baby." Besides, as important of a driving force as a baby was, some things ended up being stronger, and he didn't want to take any chances with that. So he let it meld in his mind, got up, and pulled Hanna into a hug. "Everything's going to be okay," he said in the meantime. "Everything's going to be okay. We'll figure it out, together, I promise." Fourteen-year-old Hanna wished she had had a Caleb. Because while teenage Alison had pretended to care then taught her to throw up, Caleb genuinely cared as he said, "You will not fight this alone."
Coming up next: Aria tries to deal with her limited freedom through writing, and Spencer and Toby go on a date.
