"Authors Note : Sorry for taking so long with this chapter everyone. I had a little bit of writers block. Thank you all for the reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Please comment and let me know what you think. Thanks!
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Chapter 7 : The Truth
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Oh my God!" Emily backed away quickly. She ran a hand across her mouth, as if to banish the occurrence from ever existing. Caitlin smiled at her obliviously and Leah continued to stare with wide eyes.
"You're a good kisser," Caitlin flirted. Her eyes were sparkling playfully and Emily had to take several calming breaths to steady her anger.
"I didn't kiss you!" Emily exclaimed. Her words were accompanied by quick, hot breaths of rage. "You, you…" she struggled through her drunken fog to find the right words.
"You ambushed her," Leah supplied helpfully.
"Yes! You just attacked me," she accused.
"You liked it," the redhead teased, popping one of her hips out seductively. Emily had never felt so inclined to hit someone in her life. She wasn't a violent person by nature. But Caitlin has disrespected her and forced her into a situation that she didn't want to be in. The fragile balance that Emily and Hanna had found was teetering with the weight of distance, and the smallest wave to send things out of control.
"No, no, no…" Emily muttered in panic. "I have a- there's a girl and I love her," she admitted honestly. The chaotic situation prevented Emily from realizing the significance of what she had said.
"Oh," Caitlin replied, frowning slightly, as though the thought had never occurred to her. "Well, sorry. But it's not like she has to know," she shrugged. Emily's eyes widened and she sucked in a large breath of air. Leah could see the that the brunette was reaching her breaking point.
"Okay. Cait, why don't you head back to the kitchen. The girl by the blender looked drunk enough to lick the floor. She'll play tongue hockey with you," she suggested. "Em, let's head home," she patted her arm comfortingly.
"Aw, don't leave yet," Caitlin pouted. It almost seemed as if she were enjoying Emily's frustration and the onslaught of hostility she was receiving.
"I'm out of here," Emily snapped before pushing her way past both girls and heading for the door. Quiet, timid Emily, had reached her breaking point. She was done sitting back and letting life happen to her.
"Emily! Wait," Leah called. "You're an idiot dude," she shot at Caitlin before passing her and following after the emotional brunette.
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"Em, talk to me…" Leah urged. Leah had driven them back to her house, where they would be staying for the night. They were parked outside and Emily was sitting as still as a statue, her eyes glazed over and focused on the windshield in front of her.
"There's nothing to talk about," she muttered. Her heart had slowed and was beating robotically, making her feel almost detached the situation.
"It isn't as bad as you think," Leah told her gently.
"She's gonna think that I did it to get back at her for kissing that guy," Emily replied. She turned to Leah with tears in her eyes. She had done her best to block out the fear. But Leah's voice had forced her back to reality. Her heart began beating faster and the though of Hanna pushed itself to the forefront of her mind.
"You didn't do anything wrong. And neither did she," Leah assured her. "It's not your fault that you and your girlfriend are really hot," she teased. Emily cracked a smile and rolled her eyes. She wished it were that easy. She wished she could laugh it off and move on. But things were never that easy in her life, there was always something more lurking. It was as if she, Hanna, Aria, and Spencer were cursed.
"I just don't want to hurt her," Emily whispered. The rest of the world hurt them enough. They were never supposed to hurt each other.
"Then don't tell her," Leah shrugged.
"What?" Emily asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Don't tell her," she repeated. Emily took a breath and looked out the window into the endless dark of the night. She turned back to Leah with tormented eyes.
"I can't… I can't do that," she replied, her voice shaky. Allison used to say that their secrets were what kept them close. But secrets had never done anything buy cause trouble for Emily.
"Why not?" Leah asked. "It didn't mean anything. And you didn't do anything wrong," she explained casually. Emily was caught off guard by her friend's nonchalance.
"I- I owe her the truth," Emile whispered.
"Look, it's up to you. But you said you don't want to hurt her. And if you tell her, it might hurt her. If you don't tell her, she'll never know and it won't hurt her," she laid the choices out clearly. Leah was right, Hanna would never know unless Emily told her. But Emily would know, and she wasn't sure she could live with herself if she didn't tell Hanna.
"I don't know…" Emily sighed.
"Well, you don't have to decide tonight. It's late. You should get some sleep and figure things out in the morning," she suggested. Emily bit her lip and pondered Leah's words.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess," she nodded.
"Good. Now let's get inside because I feel like I'm stalking my own house," Leah laughed. Emily forced a smile and took a deep breath. There was a churning inside of her stomach that she couldn't push away. All she wanted to do was see Hanna's face and hear her voice. Until then, she had a feeling that every smile she faked would twist her stomach more and more.
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"Hanna," Aria whispered. "Hanna!" she tried again. The blonde continued to dream peacefully, her breathing even.
"Let me try," Spencer muttered groggily. "Wake up!" she said, hitting the blonde with a pillow. Spencer smiled sleepily, proud of her accomplishment.
"Ow!" Hanna groaned, her eyes still closed and her mouth set in a frown.
"Your phone is buzzing," Aria snapped irritably. Hanna rubbed her eyes and saw that it was only five in the morning. The looks on both Aria and Spencer's face, let Hanna know that they were not happy about the wake up call.
"Who's sending me a message at this time?" she grumbled. Fumbling with her phone, Hanna opened the message and felt her heart instantly freeze. "It's from A," she whispered.
"What?" Spencer exclaimed. She and Aria both rushed to Hanna's side, peering over her shoulder and clutching each other fiercely. It had been months since they had heard from "A". Part of them knew that the peace they had been granted was only short lived. But another part of them had truly hoped that everything was over and they could finally breath again.
"Oh my God," Aria shuddered as she waited for Hanna to open the message. Hanna took a deep breath before clicking the button and letting her eyes scan the message.
"Emily?" she uttered brokenly, as a picture of the brunet appeared on her screen. Her eyes blurred as she recognized Emile in an embrace with a redhead. The two girls were kissing, the redhead's hands on Emily's face and Emily's own hands on the redhead's shoulders.
"Oh…" Aria muttered.
"What the fuck?" Hanna choked. Spencer put an arm around Hanna comfortingly.
"Maybe it's not what it looks like. Maybe, maybe A is messing with us," Spencer offered.
"Messing with us?" Hanna exclaimed. "How is this… how could she even set this up?" she felt hot tears make their way down her face. The hurt was running through her veins like fire and the shock had hit her like ice. She found that she was lost in the sea of smoke that now remained.
"I don't know," Aria bit her lip worriedly.
"I'm sure Emily has an explanation," Spencer spoke up again, her eyes dull, but her voice feigning hope. The reappearance of "A" was bad enough, but now Hanna and Emily's relationship was on the line as well. Things had the potential to get messy.
"An explanation…" Hanna laughed humorously. "Right," she rolled her eyes.
"This is Emily we're talking about," Aria said, her mouth suddenly set in a determined line. "Emily would never hurt you Hanna," she added.
"Then why the hell do I feel like this?" she cried softly. Not knowing what else to say, Aria and Spencer silently wrapped their arms around Hanna and hugged her gently.
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"What are you doing?" Leah asked, clearing her throat.
" Calling Hanna," Emily muttered distractedly. The clock on her phone read 8:04 AM and Emily couldn't wait another second.
"Wait! Are you going to tell her?" Leah asked.
"I think so," Emily replied, looking up to meet Leah's eyes. The other girl looked at her with concern but remained silent. "What?" Emily demanded, noticing that Leah was holding something back.
"Nothing. You should do what you think is right," she shrugged.
"Leah…" Emily prodded.
"Just- I don't know. I don't know Hanna. But I know that if someone I was dating told me that someone kissed them, right after I had told them the same thing, I would think they were trying to get back at me," she explained.
"Hanna knows that I'm not like that," Emily argued.
"Jealousy is a powerful thing. It can make people… different," Leah replied.
"I guess," Emily considered carefully.
"Look, do what you want. You know Hanna better than me. Maybe she won't jump to the wrong conclusion. Maybe she's really secure," Leah said with a smile. Emily felt her throat close fearfully at Leah's words. Hanna was a lot of things, but secure wasn't one of them.
"Fuck," Emily swore. Her head and her heart were conflicting and she had no idea what she should do. The fact that she couldn't even talk to Hanna in person made things all the more difficult.
"Whoa. Did saint Emily just curse?" Leah chuckled. "I've clearly underestimated how upset you are," she added.
"Shut up," Emily smirked.
"Oh my God. Now she's getting sassy," Leah replied. "Who is this pissed off badass?" she continued.
"You're an idiot," Emily laughed, throwing a pillow at her.
"No. I'm a dork," Leah corrected. "Caitlin is an idiot," she clarified.
"Caitlin is a-" The icy glare on Emily's face made it apparent that whatever she had to say about Caitlin wouldn't be nice.
"Hey now, cool it with the cursing. People are gonna think I've corrupted you," Leah interrupted. Emily giggled and let herself enjoy the moment. But her eyes continued to drift to her phone and her heart continued to beat with fear.
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"Emily," Hanna uttered emotionlessly,
"Hey! What's up?" Emily spoke into her phone, slipping her shoes off and plopping on to her bed. She had just arrived home from Leah's house. She had messaged Hanna and asked her to call when she had the time. The blonde had called almost immediately.
"Nothing," Hanna swallowed. "What about you?" she asked.
"I just got home," she answered.
"From where?" Hanna asked in a clipped tone.
"I slept at Leah's house. We ended up going to a party for a little bit last night," she explained easily.
"Yeah. I know," Hanna bit out. Emily raised an eyebrow at Hanna's words.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked in confusion.
"I know what you did last night," Hanna warned. The words were followed by the sound of a dial tone. Emily shut her eyes tightly and bit her lip. She had been right to expect the worst. She had been right to think that things couldn't be simple. Her life would never be simple.
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