Angry over Brittany's unfair treatment at the hands of the prison guards, Alison tries to see the warden but discovers it may be harder than first thought. Brittany's nightmares lead Alison to have questions about her friend's father and Brittany's discussion with Toby creates enough doubt that an old friend comes to visit Alison.
The sound of the heavy metal door to the interview room opening and closing caused Brittany to look up from where she had been staring blankly at the table, her hands and feet already secured to the table and chair, and assess the young man who had just walked through the door.
He was wearing the uniform she recognized as belonging to Rosewood Police Department, he had sandy coloured hair and blue eyes. He was tall and slender and he wore a cautious expression as he sat opposite her at the table, placing the folder he had been carrying in front of him.
His eyes looked up to meet hers and she tried her best to resist the urge to look away or to cry, she was doing this for Alison and she couldn't let her fears get in the way now.
"I'm officer Toby Cavanaugh, Rosewood PD." The man said calmly, his eyes never leaving hers, "So you must be Brittany."
She nodded slowly, searching his eyes like she did with everyone she met. He seemed like an honest guy, his eyes certainly didn't show him as a threat or corrupted like some of the police officers she had had the misfortune of having to deal with. She decided that she could trust him, at least for the moment. Toby's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"You wanted to see me? About the murder of Mona Vanderwall?"
She nodded again, tilting her head to one side until she heard a crack, her go to move when she was nervous. "You have the wrong person. Alison DiLaurentis is innocent."
Toby leaned back in his chair, raising his eyebrows questioningly. "What makes you say that, and how can you be sure?"
She leaned forward slightly when he leaned back, "She has an alibi, and it doesn't involve being in Rosewood at the time of the murder."
"How do you know this?"
"She told me,"
Toby laughed, shaking his head a few times. "Alison DiLaurentis is a compulsive liar, she can fool lawyers. The fact that she said it means nothing."
His face fell a bit when he saw that Brittany's hadn't changed, she knew something he didn't and his actions had proven her theory from before he'd even walked into the room. He was emotionally involved in this case.
"She told me about her past, about -A, about the lies she told. I know it all, though I'm not sure where you fit into it all but I can tell this is more to you than just another case." She sent him a knowing smirk before continuing, "but I also know when she's telling me the truth and when she's lying to me. She hasn't lied to me once she I met her."
Toby's face hardened when he realised that Brittany knew that this was personal to him. "What makes you so sure?"
Brittany leaned back in her chair but kept her eyes glued to his. "They say the eyes are the windows to the soul for a reason, Officer," She replied, "You just need to know what to look for."
She smirked again, not an evil smirk, just letting him know that she had him pinned and that if he got in the way of justice for her friend, she would make him pay.
"I've read your file," Toby said simply as he leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands together on the table. "I personally don't think you should be here, given the situation your crime took place in." His eyes displayed signs of sympathy for the girl across from him and Brittany didn't miss it.
"Well I'm here, nothing can change that," She responded bluntly, not sure what Toby was getting at with that comment, "but she has done nothing to deserve being here, she didn't commit the crime she is in here for, and all the evidence that points to her is bogus." She spoke as calmly as she could, even though she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.
Toby said nothing, he just nodded his head, a silent signal for her to continue.
"This -A person is out to torture her." Brittany said firmly, her anger at anyone hurting her new friend rising to the surface, "and what better way to do that then to isolate her from those she loves, those she would kill for if she had to, make them think she was the evil one, throw her in here and make her watch as they torment and break those she loves more than anything."
Toby sat with his mouth hanging open slightly, she knew she had him now. She knew he was beginning to see the truth.
"W-What is her alibi?" He stuttered.
"I can't tell you that." She responded, knowing that if Alison's reasons for meeting Cyrus were discovered, then she would be charged with giving false testimony and tampering with evidence. "But what I can tell you is this, she has an alibi. People may lie, and people can be set up, but security footage, credit card transactions and witnesses can help you get closer to the truth. You're looking in the wrong places."
With that, she motioned to the guard that she was finished, he came in and released her from the table and chair and led her back to her cell, leaving Toby in the interview room with his mouth wide open.
-x-
"Where have you been?" Alison asked as she sat up on her bunk as Brittany entered the cell and moved to the table.
"Had a cop come to visit me." She responded vaguely, not wanting to give any details about her discussion with Toby. She figured the less she shared with Alison at this point, the better.
"About your case?"
"Something like that," Brittany answered as she picked up a hair tie and pulled her hair into a high ponytail before picking up her sketchbook and climbing into her bunk. Alison could tell that her friend was hiding something but decided not to push it today. She lay back down on her bunk and continued staring at the mattress above her, her nerves settling down slightly now that Brittany was safely back in their cell.
"Hey Ali?" She heard Brittany whisper
"Yeah?"
She saw Brittany hang her head over the side of her bunk to look at her, she was upside down but Alison could still see her friend eyeing her curiously. "This morning, when you told me about the kidnapping story and Cyrus. Do you think somebody payed him to lure you out there so that they could kill Mona and frame you for it?"
Alison nodded her head, "I do."
"So he would know who payed him off right?"
She nodded again, "Yeah…"
Brittany swung off her bunk, landing gracefully on her feet and sat on the end of Alison's. "It seems clear to me that whoever payed him off is the murderer or knows who is. So maybe if Cyrus is questioned by the police, and they get him to spill who payed him, maybe that'll lead them to the real murderer and you'll be off the hook."
Alison shook her head, "I can't do that."
"Why?"
"Because Cyrus escaped custody after I identified him as my kidnapper, if they knew I was meeting with him about our deal then I'd have been arrested anyway." She explained, frustrated at the mess she had gotten herself into.
Brittany frowned, before shrugging her shoulders and giving Alison a small smile.
"We'll figure something out Ali. You won't get convicted, I promise you that."
"Don't make promises you can't keep Britt. -A may find a way to make me guilty enough to get me convicted and sentenced." Alison responded with a sigh. She knew she deserved this, and worse for her actions before her disappearance.
"This is one I can keep Ali."
Alison turned to face her friend but Brittany had already gotten to her feet and picked up her one of the books she had resting on the table before climbing into her bunk. Alison wondered why her friend had said that but decided not to push it at the moment. There was another question she had been wanting to know ever since she had met Brittany, but had been afraid to ask for fear of scaring her cellmate.
"Britt?"
"Hmmm?"
"When I was being transferred, the warden told me about you and your case. He said that you made no attempt to defend yourself during your trial. He said when you were called to the witness stand, you just said that you killed him and left. Why didn't you defend yourself? Why did you just accept a two year sentence?" She asked quickly, hoping to god that Brittany wouldn't be offended or upset.
She heard her cellmate take a deep breath before answering.
"Because I did it. I killed him. Whatever the reason may have been, I still took his life away. I knew when I did it that I would end up here because of it, and I was okay with that. They ask you to tell the truth on the witness stand. I put my hand on a bible and promised to tell the truth, and I did" Brittany's voice sounded croaky and Alison guessed that she was crying but she didn't move, she waited patiently for Brittany to finish.
"The judge heard all the evidence and decided it was in self defence but the DA insisted that I be punished because at the end of the day, I still murdered someone. The DA brought forward all these claims that I was mentally unstable and that I had motives to kill him before I saw what he was doing to my mom. He said that I would've killed him anyway and that when I saw him hurting her, I figured I had a perfect opportunity to get rid of him and get away with it. The detective in charge of the investigation said that he believed I had planted the knife to murder him that night while he was asleep. It was such a mess of a trial. The DA was going down a list of accusations until they found one that would stick. I'm sure he paid off the detective but I couldn't prove it."
Alison's jaw was on the floor as she listened, she couldn't believe what Brittany had been through and how the DA and lead detective had made such a joke of her trial. It couldn't be called fair in the slightest.
"But…Britt, I don't understand why they were so determined to prove you guilty."
Brittany chuckled darkly. "That's just it, they had to prove me guilty. They had to find a way to make me look guilty and paint me as a liar. Or they risked losing their jobs."
Their jobs? What? Why would they have lost their jobs? Alison thought as she processed the news. "What do you mean?"
She heard Brittany adjust her position in her bed. "Because I found out that the cop had been paid off to alter a report, something about a roof and a suicide. I overheard him discussing it on the phone with someone when I was in the police station on my paper route. If I had brought it up, his credibility would be ruined and most likely he would of been taken off the force. He knew that I knew and he figured if he made me out to be a liar, then if I brought up what I'd heard, nobody would believe me."
Alison's head reeled from this new revelation. Her friend was in here because a police officer had given false evidence to a court to incriminate her to save his job. What a scumbag.
Alison opened her mouth to respond, and should probably have been relieved when the sound of chains jingling together attracted her attention. The words she was planning to use to describe Brittany's case investigator would surely have been frowned upon.
Two guards opened the bars to their cell and stepped in. Alison was grateful to see that they weren't the same ones from yesterday. She got up from her bed and stood against the wall opposite the cell's opening, something she had learned was helpful in letting the guards know you weren't looking for trouble, and Brittany jumped down from her bunk and did the same.
One guard, a middle-aged female with long blonde hair that Alison suspected had been dyed to hide the grey hairs beginning to show, stepped forward slightly and gave both of them a small smile. "It's okay ladies, you don't have anything to worry about." she said in her most reassuring voice, Alison's body visibly relaxed and she felt Brittany's do the same next to her. "You both have a visitor, they want to talk to Lawson first and then DiLaurentis. So we're going to take you both now and then DiLaurentis, you'll be secured while Lawson speaks to the visitor and then Lawson, you will be secured while DiLaurentis sees the visitor and then we'll bring you both back. Okay?"
Alison and Brittany shared a confused look, who the hell would want to see both of them? They both turned to the guard, who Brittany didn't seem to be too afraid of which made Alison think that she was one of the 'kind' ones Brittany had referred to when they had first met, and nodded, Alison a little more enthusiastically than Brittany since this was her first visitor since Hanna a few days after her admission to this hellhole.
The guard nodded also, mutually acknowledging that they had an agreement. "Okay, DiLaurentis, step forward so we can put these on," the guard ordered, holding up the restraints that Alison was getting increasingly familiar with. She stepped forward and held out her wrists and allowed herself to be shackled. The guard made sure that the restraints were tight enough to secure her, but not tight enough that they were cutting off her circulation, (Alison shivered at the memory of Brittany being led away with her hands turning white due to the too-tight handcuffs she wore) before doing the same to Brittany.
Once they were both cuffed, the male guard who had stayed silent by the cells entrance led them out while the female helped Brittany to walk since her limp had gotten worse since her abuse at the hands of the two stuck-up guards.
They were escorted to the visiting area, where tables with a clip to secure inmate's handcuffs to the table were along with two chairs, one on either side, lined up in neat rows. Alison was secured to a bench outside the door while Brittany watched. Once Alison was locked to the bench, she looked at her friend to see a familiar terror in Brittany's eyes and a tear slipping from her eyes.
"What's wrong?" She whispered softly while one of the guards went into the visiting room to talk to their visitor, probably to outline the rules.
Brittany let out a strangled sob, "I'm scared."
Alison felt her heart break, she had forgotten how afraid Brittany was of situations she had no control over, their friendship leading her friend to be more confident around her and less afraid.
"It's going to be okay," She tried to assure her cellmate, giving her a soft smile, "There's no way you'll get hurt with the guards here."
Just then, the guard returned and motioned to the other guard to bring Brittany in. Brittany gave her friend a stiff nod before shuffling forward towards the door, stumbling through it and Alison watched the door close behind her with a heavy thud, leaving her to wonder who had come to see them and why.
-x-
Brittany kept her head down and her eyes to the floor and she was lead to a table and made to sit down. Just as the female guard moved to attach her handcuffs to the table, she heard a gentle voice coming from the chair across from her speak up. "That won't be necessary."
The guard, who Brittany knew as being Officer Robyn Palmer, stopped securing her hands and looked up to the visitor, "You sure?" she asked the unknown visitor curiously. Brittany, who was still staring at the floor, guessed that this didn't happen often and it had taken Palmer by surprise.
"Yes" the visitor responded, Brittany knew that it was a voice she didn't recognize and that only added to her anxiety. Palmer released Brittany from the table but ordered her to put her hands in her lap. Brittany obeyed without question.
"Best behaviour Lawson." Palmer warned and Brittany nodded slowly, keeping her head down and eyes fixed to the floor. Palmer moved to the door that Alison was sitting on the other side of and stood in the corner to give Brittany and her visitor some privacy. Brittany felt a tear slide down her cheek again as she sank lower into the chair, terrified.
She hears the chair opposite her scrape across the concrete floor as the stranger moved closer to the table and therefore, Brittany.
"Hello," The visitor spoke in a soft, yet confident voice. Brittany squeaked and flinched, she was very uncomfortable right now. The only person she was comfortable around was Alison, and she had no idea who this stranger was or what she wanted with her. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
Brittany nodded slowly but still didn't look up. It wasn't very reassuring from someone she didn't know. The visitor cleared her throat before speaking again.
"My name is Emily, Emily Fields."
Brittany's eyes widened, she knew that name. Alison had told her all about Emily and the other girls during their conversations about -A and Alison's past. She finally lifted her head to look at her visitor.
Emily was exactly the way Brittany had pictured her from Alison's description. She had wavy brown hair that flowed over her shoulders, her skin was naturally tan and she had wide, gentle, chocolate brown eyes. Brittany didn't need to search them for long to know that Emily wasn't a threat to her.
"It's nice." She finally found her voice as she studied Emily some more, taking note of the girl's shocked expression at her injuries.
Emily seemed to regain her composure after a few minutes of taking in Brittany's mangled face and arms, and raised her eyebrows at the inmate. "It's nice what?" She asked Brittany, taking care to make sure her voice was gentle, her discussion with Toby this morning letting her know about Brittany's situation and mental state.
Brittany allowed her posture to soften a little as she kept her eyes glued to Emily's, "It's nice to be able to put a face to the name."
Emily's eyes widened in surprise. "You've heard of me?" Brittany only nodded, "What do you know?"
"Everything. Including how quickly you and the others are willing to betray one of your own without hearing their side of the story."
She had done this deliberately. She intentionally took a stab at Emily to see her reaction, Brittany was trying to figure out if Emily was here to listen or to accuse.
Emily frowned before glancing down at her feet and began playing with her fingers. Brittany's comment had hurt, the way the girl had phrased it made Emily feel worse than she already did.
"That's why I'm here, to hear her side of the story." Emily finally responded after several minutes of awkward silence.
Brittany scrutinized her face and body language, like she did with everybody she met. "So what do you want with me?"
"You're Alison's cellmate, clearly she has been talking to you. My friend, Toby, the cop, told me that you had him come and visit you and you told him that you knew Ali was innocent and that he was looking in the wrong places."
Brittany nodded, gesturing for Emily to continue.
"I want to know what you know, why you are so certain that she didn't murder anyone, and why you believe her when you know about the lies she has told in the past."
Brittany thought for a second, trying to figure out what it was safe to tell Emily and what Alison wanted kept a secret at the moment. "She has an alibi. She wasn't even in Rosewood at the time of the murder. I know she's innocent because she told me everything. I can tell when I'm being lied to, and I know that she isn't lying when she tells me she didn't kill anyone."
Emily stared at her like she had grown two heads. Brittany wasn't sure if it was because Alison had an alibi or that she knew everything that had happened to them over recent years. "Sh..She has an alibi?" There was her answer. "What is it?"
Brittany cracked her neck to one side. "It's not my place to say any more than that she was meeting with someone. She's chained to a bench on the other side of that door-" She motioned to it with her head, "if she wants you to know, she'll tell you. Just know that she's telling the truth, she didn't kill anybody and she's been framed. If you and your friends can't wrap your heads around that and get on the same page with her, then you'll all be on this side of the table wearing these-" She raised her hands so Emily could see the handcuffs before placing them back in her lap, "and rocking the orange jumpsuits like we are."
She had also done this deliberately. She was making sure Emily knew that they couldn't win without Alison, she knew enough about the -A situation to figure that much out. She knew things that the girls didn't as well, Alison had been keeping secrets from them but there was no danger in telling her prison cellmate. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"She's on your side, she always has been. She's trying to protect you because the less you know, the better. She's trying to keep you all safe but there's not much she can do from in here. She cares about all of you so much, especially you Emily!"
She hadn't meant to let that one slip, her agitation at the girl in front of her had clouded her judgement and her determination to make Emily see the truth had caused her to unintentionally spill Alison's secret.
Alison had confessed her love for Emily the night before, only after Brittany noticed that she seemed to be especially hurt by Emily's betrayal, had Alison admitted that her feelings for Emily were not platonic.
Emily let out a gasp, bringing her hands to cover her mouth. Brittany silently cursed herself for not keeping her mouth shut and spilling something that Alison should have told Emily herself.
"Wh…what…what do you mean?" Emily asked hesitantly. Brittany racked her brains to try and fix this and remembered something Alison had told her when describing what it had been like to arrive at a barn in the middle of nowhere, fearing that she was too late.
"You were always her favourite Emily. She was crying when she told me about when she pulled you out of the barn. She thought she was too late, she said that she has never been so terrified in her whole life."
Emily's eyes were shining with unshed tears. Brittany could tell she had gotten her point across, she leant across the table slightly.
"She's innocent, she's on your side, and she needs you. Don't let -A break you guys apart because you can't win this on your own, and neither can Ali. You can only do this together, otherwise it's already over."
She nodded to Palmer, who walked over to stand behind her. She stood up and allowed herself to be led away, leaving Emily sitting at the table.
-x-
Alison's ears perked up at the sound of the door opening and chains rattling. She looked up to see Brittany being led towards the bench. She watched as her friend was made to sit down next to her and was secured to the bench. As soon as Brittany was chained in place, Alison turned to face her friend.
"Who is it? What do they want?" She whispered eagerly.
Brittany blinked several times before giving Alison a small smile, "Your friend, Emily."
Alison felt her heartbeat increase at the mention of her mermaid's name, Emily had finally come to see her? But wait, why the hell did she ask to see Brittany?
"It's alright Ali," Brittany reassured quickly, practically seeing the gears turning in Alison's head. "She's here to talk, she is willing to listen to you."
Alison felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders. Was it possible that Emily finally believed her?
"But…what did she want with you?" She asked quickly
Brittany shrugged. "She just asked me some questions, nothing bad. You better go see her, but be careful, she's a little…emotional."
As soon as Brittany had said it, Palmer had returned. She released Alison from the bench but kept her shackles on and led her through the door and into the visitor's room.
There she was, in the flesh. She had red, blotchy eyes; clearly Brittany had been right about her being emotional, and she wore a pained expression. She looked up to see Alison being led to the table and brought a tanned hand up to wipe a stray tear from her cheek.
Alison waited for Palmer to pull her chair back before sitting down, never taking her eyes off Emily's. Palmer brought Alison's hands up to rest on the table and raised her eyebrows at Emily, silently asking if she should lock Alison's cuffs to the table. Emily shook her head again.
Palmer turned to look at Alison. "DiLaurentis, hands in your lap and feet in front of you. No funny business or you'll be locked in." Alison obeyed and Palmer returned to the corner of the room, leaving the two girls to talk.
Emily bowed her head and began to play with her fingers. She had never, in her life, felt so much regret and guilt.
"Ali…"
"Why did you talk to Brittany Em?" Alison interrupted angrily before she could say anything else, "What could you possibly want with her? Are you trying to turn my only friend against me now too?! Is it not bad enough that you four and my brother had me thrown into a cage to rot for a crime I never committed, that now you're trying to make sure I rot alone?!" Alison spat, venom dripping from her every word.
While she was glad that Emily had come to see her, she was still angry that she hadn't listened to her and had worked to get her arrested. It was only when she finished speaking that she noticed Emily's eyes had filled with tears, which were now spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks. She could also hear the former swimming choking back sobs and she stared at her feet. It was only then that she noticed that Emily's head was hung in shame. She instantly felt bad.
Emily sobbed for another minute or so before finally calming down enough to talk. She raised her head to look at Alison to find the blonde looking back at her with a very different expression. It's stunned, curious, confused and wait, was that sympathy?
"A-A-Ali…I'm so sorry…I know it will n-n-never be enough but I'm s-so s-s-s-sorry" Emily choked out, sobs wracking her body.
Alison wished so desperately that she could reach out and touch Emily, to hold her hand and run her fingers along her delicate cheekbones. She knew that she couldn't however, so instead she gripped the orange fabric of her jumpsuit in her cuffed hands to refrain from touching the broken girl in front of her, and took a deep breath before responding.
"Em, I can't say I forgive you, because I don't know yet if I do. I certainly don't forgive the others, and I probably never will. I knew as soon as I got back that they would turn on me. They never understood me like you did…do." She corrected herself, realising that Emily wouldn't be here apologizing with tears in her eyes if she thought Alison was a murderer. "But I didn't kill Mona, or Bethany for that matter. I didn't kill anybody! It's all a set up!"
"I know Ali, I know," Emily spoke clearly for the first time, "That's why I'm here. I want to know where you were and why you didn't tell the police when Tanner arrested you," Emily paused and bit her lip, "and… I want to know what I can do to get you out of here."
Taken by surprise, Alison leaned back in her chair and stared thoughtfully at the brunette. She wondered if the other girls knew that Emily was here, had she lied to them about where she was? Did they share the same feelings about her as Emily did? Did they believe she was innocent?
"Answer my question first, then I'll answer yours," She said after a few minutes of awkward silence. "What did you want with Brittany?"
Emily felt a lump rise in her throat, which she quickly swallowed. "Well, firstly I wanted to make sure that the person you were sharing your cell with wasn't a danger to you," Alison felt her heart beat furiously in her chest. Emily still cared.
"Then," Emily continued, "I wanted to see how much she knew about…everything. She made it pretty clear that she knows about -A and what's been going on. Then she told me that we couldn't win this without you and that we needed to get on the same page or it was already over."
"She's a smart kid."
"Ali?" Emily breathed out quietly, she hadn't had the courage to ask Brittany this, but she felt she could ask Alison. "What happened to her? I mean, her face… I've never seen anything like it."
Alison fought back the urge to smile; there was her mermaid. The girl that was concerned about everyone she met, who always put the needs of others before her own.
"Em, look at her," Alison repeated the words of the guard she had talked to about Brittany's time in prison. "She's seventeen, she's scared and alone, she's not very strong and she won't stand up for herself. She's like an early Christmas present to some of the lunatics in here." Alison felt the anger boiling within herself again at the thought of Brittany being hurt. She looked over to see Emily's expression mirroring hers.
"She's only seventeen?! What the hell is she doing here?"
"It's a long story Em, but Brittany is just as innocent as I am."
Emily nodded, understanding that Alison didn't really want to talk about her friend. She decided to change the subject. "Where were you Ali? On thanksgiving."
Alison sighed, grateful for the topic change but also hesitant to answer the question. She knew though, if she had any chance with Emily, she had to be honest.
"Philly." She responded truthfully, "I was waiting for Cyrus, he wanted to meet so I went. I waited for hours and he never turned up."
"Where in Philly?"
"Some old café near the mall."
The two girls held eye contact for several minutes, brown eyes investigating blue. Emily eventually sighed and gave Alison a small smile.
"I believe you."
Alison's heart skipped several beats at those three words, she felt tears welling up behind her eyes and did her best to keep them at bay. She was so relieved that Emily was on her side, she knew her mermaid wouldn't rest until Alison's name was cleared.
"There has to be a way to prove I'm innocent Em." She said adamantly; there simply had to be.
"I'll start looking, I'll get Toby and the others to help me too. We'll get you out Ali." She promised
"Em?" Alison said quickly, though she was happy to have Emily on her side and helping to get her out, there was something nagging at her about leaving this place. "What about Brittany?" She couldn't leave her friend in this awful place when she didn't deserve it. She wouldn't leave Brittany behind.
Emily thought for a moment before answering. "If she's innocent, I'll find a way to get her out too. I'll get Toby to help."
"She said something about the detective who investigated her case being corrupt and giving false evidence during the trial." Alison remembered her and Brittany's discussion earlier that day.
Emily's eyes widened, "What kind of maniac would do that and why?"
"She has proof that he altered a report, something about someone falling off a roof I think," Alison racked her brains trying to remember exactly what Brittany had said, "She said she thinks he was trying to make her look guilty and paint her as a liar so that even if she said something about it, nobody would believe her."
Emily had frozen at this new revelation, something about this was awfully familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. She pushed it aside for the moment, making a mental note to come back to it later, before turning to Alison again.
"Try and see if you can find out anymore. I'll have Toby do some digging as well. I'll be back in a few days okay?" Emily promised. Alison nodded and Emily made a move to stand up before hearing Alison calling her name again.
"Em?"
She turned to look at Alison again, waiting patiently for her to speak. Alison gave her a soft smile.
"I missed you."
Emily returned the smile before standing up and Alison did the same, with Palmer walking to stand behind her.
"I missed you too Ali. I'll be back soon."
She had an overwhelming desire to hug the blonde but she knew she couldn't, so she turned to the door and walked away, looking over her shoulder to give Alison a reassuring smile, which the blonde returned.
-x-
"You're cheerful tonight."
Alison looked up to see Brittany sitting on her bunk with her legs hanging over the side as the cell bars closed behind her. Brittany still blatantly refused to go anywhere near the dining hall so Alison was allowed to bring food back for her. Though over the last few days, Alison had to sit with Brittany and watch her eat it to make sure she didn't flush it down the toilet.
"Emily believes me. She really believes me!"
Brittany gave Alison a small smile. "I'm so glad Ali," She said sincerely before turning to look out their cell window again, which she had been doing before Alison had returned from dinner. She had been here for a long time, and had forgotten what it was like to breathe fresh air and watch the sun set; and with her eighteenth birthday coming up in 5 days, she couldn't help but feel miserable.
"Yeah, so now maybe we have a ch-… BRITTANY WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" She raised her voice when she saw the area behind Brittany's ear bleeding. The dark red liquid staining her hair and dripping onto her neck and white prison issued shirt she was wearing, along with the orange track pants, having changed out of her jumpsuit once they got back from seeing Emily.
"Oh it's nothing. It's just…"
"It's not nothing!" Alison interrupted, placing Brittany's food and water bottle on the table and walking over to the steel toilet in the corner and ripping some paper off before walking back to the bunks. "Come down here." She commanded gently. Brittany obeyed, sliding down and landing in front of Alison. Alison pointed to her bunk, "Sit." Brittany sat down on Alison's bunk and waited.
Alison moved to stand in front of Brittany and brought her hand up to her chin and gently turned her head to the side. It was the first time Brittany had allowed Alison to touch her directly, Alison only having touched her towel in the showers.
Brittany's body tensed at Alison's touch but relaxed after a few seconds, she closed her eyes and let Alison gently dab at the cut behind her ear until the bleeding stopped.
"What happened Britt?" Alison's voice brought her back to the present. She felt a tear slip from her eye and brought a hand up to wipe it away, but felt another soft hand already wiping it away. She looked up to see Alison's eyes filling with tears as well and she felt the blonde bring her in for a tight hug. She brought her arms up to wrap around Alison as she buried her face in the crook of her friend's neck and sobs quietly while Alison holds her, rubbing her back up and down soothingly.
"I…I can't tell you." She stutters in between sobs.
"The guards again?" Alison asked, feeling anger boiling inside her again at the thought of those scumbags touching Brittany. She felt Brittany nod slightly into her neck and saw red for the next few minutes as Brittany cried into her shoulder.
"I'll find a way to stop this Britt, I promise." She vows as she holds her friend tighter to her chest as Brittany continued to cry.
-x-
When Alison awakes, the first thing she is aware of is her bunk moving back and forth. She opens her eyes hastily and it took a while for them to adjust to the darkness in their cell. She could hear it now, soft whimpering from the bunk above her. She rubs her eyes and listens closer.
"No…no…daddy…please."
In a flash Alison is out of bed and scurrying up the ladder. She reaches the top to find Brittany thrashing around in her sleep, her face in contorted in pain and her shirt is covered in sweat. Alison gently crawls towards her friend and grasps both her arms in one of her own, pinning them down and gently shaking Brittany's shoulder in an attempt to wake her up.
"Britt," she nudged the sleeping girl gently as she tried to make out the shapes in the dark. She could see beads of sweat on Brittany's face mixed with tears. She couldn't help but let a tear of her own slide at seeing the pain her friend went through, even when she was sleeping. "Britt, you need to wake up. Come on, its okay. I'm here" She said a little louder.
She felt Brittany stop struggling and could barely make out her eyes shooting open, wide and full of fear. She could see her friend was trembling and still breathing rapidly. Brittany sat up abruptly and clutched at her chest, grimacing in pain.
Alison jumped off the bunk and walked swiftly towards the table, picking up the water bottle she had brought for Brittany after dinner and quickly jumped back onto Brittany's bunk. She placed the bottle at the foot of the bunk before crawling up next to Brittany and wrapping her arms around her. Brittany brought her arms up to clutch at Alison's arm that was wrapped around her front, still panicking and hyperventilating.
"Shhh," Alison soothed as she gently rocked them back and forth, bringing her friend's head down into the crook of her neck and tightening her hold around Brittany's underweight (bordering anorexic) body. "I'm here, I've got you. It was just a dream."
After what felt like hours in this position, Brittany's breathing evened out and her hold on Alison loosened slightly, but she still kept a firm grip on the blonde. Alison leant forward and picked up the bottle she had tossed on the bed earlier, twisting the cap off and holding it in front of Brittany.
"Here. Drink."
Brittany took the bottle and took a swig while Alison cradled her gently, as she drank, her expression was distant and terrified. Alison brought one hand up to stroke through Brittany's brown hair. Brittany was one of those girls with naturally dead straight hair and Alison envied her for that.
Brittany finished drinking and handed the bottle back to Alison, who screwed the top back on and threw it towards their feet.
"Better?" Alison asked in a whisper as she wiped a tear from Brittany's face. Brittany was still trembling in her arms but was more relaxed than she had be when she had first woken from her nightmare. She nodded slightly before allowing herself to fall into Alison's chest, gripping Alison's white sleeping shirt in her tiny fists.
"Okay, I'm going back to bed, wake me if you need anything alright?" she said as she made a move to climb off the top bunk back to her own, and was surprised to notice Brittany hadn't released her shirt and was in fact, tightening her hold on it.
"Stay"
It came out as a broken whisper, as she tugged on Alison's shirt to try and get her to lay back down. Alison could see her wide eyes and panicked expression even in the darkness. She picked up the water bottle and tossed it onto her bunk below them before picking up the grey blanket Brittany had kicked off and crawling up to lay next to her and throw the blanket over them both. Brittany rested her head on the pillow and Alison followed suit, the two gazed at each other for a moment before Brittany closed her eyes. Alison continued to stare at her thoughtfully before she felt a tiny hand grip hers and squeeze slightly. Alison smiled slightly to herself and squeezed back, rubbing her thumb over Brittany
Several minutes later, Brittany began snoring softly while Alison lay awake and thought over the day. She wondered if Emily had spoken to the girls about her, and if they were all on the same page in regards to her innocence. She wondered if -A was still torturing them, though after remembering that -A was a complete psychopath, she was able to answer that question on her own, and last, but certainly not least, she wondered why Brittany had had a nightmare in which she had mentioned, and seemed to be afraid of, her father.
Still holding her friend's hand in her own, Alison closed her eyes and allowed sleep to overcome her.
-x-
My deepest apologies for this taking so long to update, but it's my longest chapter so far so hopefully that will make up for it! Alison and Brittany are getting very close which I love! Their relationship will be purely platonic though, no romantic feelings. They will have a real big sister, little sister relationship eventually. What will Emily do? What's the deal with Brittany's father and what will Toby and Brittany do to clear Alison's name? Stay tuned to find out but feel free to leave me your thoughts and REVIEW!
As usual, the synopsis:
Chapter 5: When Alison finds out that her friend was tormented and humiliated by some particularly unpleasant inmates, she sets out on a quest for revenge which leads her to making an unexpected discovery. Brittany fears that her newly exposed secret will make her even more of a target and when a riot breaks out in the dining area, she finds herself having to choose between Alison's safety and her own.