With even more tears falling down her cheeks, Emily scavenged through her room to find album fulls of her and Alison.. or Courtney. She ripped them all, photo by photo, making sure to not leave any of them behind. The brunette threw the album on her desk once she was finished. She sat on her bed and took deep breaths, though she felt as though she was hyperventilating. Little did she know that her mother had been downstairs the whole time, and she heard everything.
Alison sat up slightly and quickly shoved the box under her bed when she heard her dad coming upstairs. She took the sandwich from him and waited for him to leave. The blonde took a few bites and pulled out the box again. She held the picture of the day she'd first met Emily. Alison held it between her two hands, ready to tear it but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Why did the brunette have such a hold on her? Alison never cared that much, she'd always replace those that ditched her and remained Queen Bee. She didn't understand why this was breaking her. All she could think of was that this mess Courtney's fault. She vowed to get revenge as she continued looking through her box of memories.
The brunette was startled as she heard her mother race upstairs to her room. She sat on her bed, trying to compose herself, though she found it impossible.
''Emily.. what's going on, what's wrong, sweetie are you okay?'' Pam walked inside of Emily's room, she was a little furious that Emily had made a mess of her room, though her prime concern was on her daughter.
''Alison's back mom, her and her.. did you know? There's two of them, she's not the only one!'' Emily couldn't really speak clearly, she took soft breaths between her words, she tried to explain everything.
''I know she's back sweetie, but aren't you happy that she is? Why did you rip all your photos with her.. and destroy the snow globe she gave you? You cherished that thing, never let anyone touch it.'' Pam added.
''She's a liar. She's a fake, she lives to hurt people, her and her twin sister, do all the Rosewood adults know about why were we kept in the dark!'' Emily practically shouted out.''
''Emily you need to sleep, there's only Alison and Jason, only two DiLaurentis kids.'' Pam said truthfully, nobody had any idea of the twins, it was only another DiLaurentis secret.
The brunette cried some more and looked at her mother, she let her back touch the sheets on her bed, her eyes wide. ''I just want to be left alone.'' She whispered.
Alison picked up her own snow globe and shook it, letting the snow swirl all around. It was a present for Emily but she'd loved it so much, she'd ended up buying one for each of them. She remembered how much Emily had loved that for once it was only her that had something Alison had, unlike everything the blonde usually bought for all four girls. She sighed deeply and tossed it back in the box. Alison was too hurt, too exhausted to look at all her memories with Emily. She shoved the box back under her bed and called for Pepe to climb onto her bed with her. She hugged him tightly and whispered. "At least I'll never share you with that bitch." Her tears fell silently, wetting Pepe's fur as she finally fell asleep.
Emily fell asleep quickly once her mom closed the door to her room. She slept throughout the night, though it wasn't long before the nightmares came to her. The twins after, she couldn't tell which was witch, it was haunting her. Her body was sweating, she was shaking and almost fell off her bed. Why would nobody believe her? For once, she was telling the truth about the twins, about Alison and Courtney. Emily woke up in a scream, her mother quickly running to her room.
''Emily! Calm down, breathe..'' Pam stroked Emily back as she sat beside her.
''There's two, two Alison's.. you have to believe me.. mom..'' Emily was hyperventilating once more.
Her mother simply sighed, she slipped the covers over Emily's body, giving her a worried look. ''It's just a dream, go back to bed.'' Pam closed the door.
Alison awoke startled, her body covered in a cold sweat. She breathed deeply and looked up above her, prepared to see a grinning Courtney. She breathed out slowly and took a sip of water from the bottle beside her on the nightstand. "Just a dream, Ali. You're okay. Court is gone. Emily's safe." She whispered to herself but despite her best efforts, she couldn't manage to calm down. The blonde was just grateful her dad hadn't heard her startle awake. She wasn't ready to tell him about Courtney, not when they were all still recovering from her mother's death. The family already had enough on their plates, and dealing with Courtney was something they all feared. The DiLaurentis family had moved to Rosewood and even changed their original surname just to escape the damage Courtney had ensued upon them.
After finally being able to sleep through the night, Emily Fields woke up, dark bags underneath her eyes. She looked up at her ceiling and then down at the floor, the one that was trashed. She didn't even regret trashing her photos. Em desperately wanted to call Alison, or even text her, but she knew the two needed their space. She walked downstairs and sat at the kitchen table, her hand covering her face. Her mother approached her and placed her hand over Emily's shoulder, whispering into her ear. ''What was that last night, telling me there were two DiLaurentis' girls. Don't go shouting that out loud Emily, people will think you're crazy.'' She added, thinking Emily had sort of lost her mind.
Alison awoke the next morning with a terrible headache. All the crying had caused her nose to stuff up and it gave her a sinus headache. She felt like she'd been run over with how weak she felt. The blonde picked up her phone hoping that maybe this whole thing was a nightmare and she'd be greeted with messages from Emily. When she saw that there was one new text, her heart lifted. She thought maybe she still had a chance to make things right with the brunette. When she opened the text and saw what it said, she almost threw her phone across her bedroom. "Double the trouble, double the fun, when you're blessed with twins. -Kisses, Court." She read the message over and over. "Damn you, Courtney!" She shouted just before her dad walked in.
"What was that, Ali?" Her father asked her, with a worried expression on his face.
"Oh nothing, dad. Just my friends aren't answering me. I need to go back to school."
"Soon, but go ahead and buy whatever you like." Kenneth DiLaurentis replied.
"Thanks dad." Alison said, her voice the slightest bit happier that she'd at least have something to keep her mind occupied.
Emily stormed out of her house and made her way out to her porch. She sat on the little chair next to her door, hugging her knees to her chest. ''There's two of them... Courtney and Alison...'' She kept repeating to herself. Maybe she was really starting to lose her mind, was there really two of them, or was there one? Was she going crazy? Emily sighed and looked up at the sky, it looked like it was going to rain. After hearing her phone buzz, she wondered if it was from Alison. She quickly checked, only to have her worst nightmare text her. It was real, it was Courtney. ''I'm still on your mind, aren't I? Well bitch, you won't ever love Alison like you loved me. xox Courtney.'' Emily threw her phone violently on the ground, screaming.
Alison got up and decided she may as well act as normal as she could. She took a shower and tried to rid her mind of Courtney but there was no way she could forget about Emily. That text may have been directed at her but Courtney was smart, I mean crazy people had to be to get away with murder, etc, right? Alison stepped out of the shower and saw another new text. "Please be Emily." She silently begged but it was another text from Courtney. "Don't you wish your precious mermaid loved you as much as she loves me? You'll always be second choice, bitch. Kisses, Courtney." The blonde practically screamed her head off and threw her phone on the bed. Before she knew it, she was composing a text back. "Face me instead of hiding in the shadows, bitch. Everyone in this family knows you're crazy. I'm not afraid of you. -Alison." She hit send before she could rethink what she was doing.
Emily picked up her phone, it had some scratches, though it had not broken. The brunette walked back inside, looking more confused than ever. She kept trying to force herself to forget the events that had happened between Alison and Courtney and herself, but it was hard. She didn't want all of this to be true, it was easier to tell herself that nothing happened, which got reality and non-reality confused. The brunette sat in the living room, her face pale, why was this affecting her so much? Was it because Courtney was her first love, or was it because she was in love with Alison right now? Emily placed her cell phone over her lap and looked it over, photos, memories, texts... what was even real anymore? She felt like she was losing her mind, she was going to let this situation get the best of her...
Alison looked at her phone and waited around but Courtney never replied. Obviously the bitch was too smart to take her bait but the blonde could hope, couldn't she? Alison wasn't murderous but Courtney drove her to a point that she'd do anything just to rid herself of a girl who was practically stealing her identity. What had happened, she wondered. When they were kids, the twins had been so close. Alison still didn't know what had driven Courtney to be so jealous of her, to want to be her so badly. The blonde wished things could have been different but now she knew that Emily was more important than her relationship with her sister. "Courtney, if you're listening...come out and face this. I'm not waiting around for you to fuck up my life again!" She shouted out.
Emily really didn't know what to do at this point. Sure, she wondered what Alison was doing, where Courtney was, but she couldn't do much, especially since she was the one who cut the connection wit Alison only a day ago. All Emily could do was rock back and forth on her porch swing, thinking about the situation that she was in, that Alison was in, that both of the girls were in really. ''How did I not notice there were two...'' Emily mumbled to herself.
''Emily, why are you still going about this. There's only Alison, Alison and Jason, that's it, they didn't have another daughter!'' Pam came outside as she heard Emily's mumbling about the twins once again.
''There's two, her name is Courtney, mom, they're identical twins, you can't even tell them apart, I swear, there's two of them!''
Pam walked over and sat beside Emily, placing her hand over Emily's forehead, checking to see if she had a fever of some sort. ''Did you fall, Emily, hit your head while swimming?'' She questioned her seriously, Emily simply pulling away from her mother, standing up.
''There's Courtney and there's Alison, IDENTICAL twins, mom. They hid it from everyone, they hid it from me, all along! If you don't believe, fine. But some day, you'll know I'm right!'' Emily spoke in a rage, picking up her phone and walking down her porch and onto the side walk.
Alison laid on her bed, thinking about Emily. She looked through her phone, swiping through all the pictures they'd taken together. She then went through her text history and read every message between her and Emily. She desperately wanted to talk to the brunette but she knew that Emily wouldn't answer her anyway. Alison thought for a long time, trying to figure how Courtney had managed to get so much time alone with Emily. She knew it had to have been when she was off with her older field hockey friends or Ian or Noel. She knew it had seemed odd when none of the girls seemed to miss her while she'd been busy but now it made sense. They never knew she was gone. It was no wonder the girls felt like she was keeping secrets. Courtney had appeared posing perfectly as Alison and so the girls never knew of her other friends. Sure Alison wasn't open about her life but she was less secretive than the girls thought. Maybe Emily was right, Alison thought. Maybe it really was time to leave Rosewood.
Emily really didn't know where she was heading. She walked about the streets of Rosewood, ending up where she wanted to go all along. Emily was still in her pyjama shorts, a tank top with a bra underneath, she looked like hell, her skin was pale, she had baggy eyes, almost bloodshot from the lack of sleep caused by the nightmares. The brunette made her towards the DiLaurentis house, once outside, she looked around, taking one soft breath, spotting Alison, she shrugged. Why was Emily even there in the first place? She didn't know, but she knew that where Alison was was definitely where she belonged.
Alison stared out the window, wanting Courtney to appear. She desperately wanted this whole mess to be over. If Courtney came back, she knew things would be easier just because then she'd have her family on her side and they'd surely send Courtney back to Radley. Maybe Alison would be lucky and they'd just shun her twin completely. She looked out the window and did a double take. What was Emily doing in her front yard? She ran downstairs not even bothering with her hair or trying to cover up her bloodshot puffy eyes. She was still in pyjamas as well but she didn't care. The blonde threw open the door, hoping to get to Emily before she left. "Emily? Did something happen?" Alison asked worriedly, thinking that Emily would only bother coming over in an extreme emergency.
Emily didn't reply right away, she was a little zoned out, she didn't even know why she was there, her mom didn't believe her when she said there were two DiLaurentis girls and it drove her crazy. The brunette blinked a couple of times and turned around to face Alison, the same monotone expression covering her pale face. ''I uhm.'' She mumbled and then placed her hand behind her neck. ''I think I'm losing it.'' She didn't even bother looking at Alison as she spoke. She sat down quickly over the side walk and whispered to herself. ''She doesn't believe me, why doesn't she believe me that there's two of you, that there's Courtney and that there's Alison...'' She spoke weakly, her eyes wide open. ''I don't even know if I can tell what's real now...'' She spoke, hurt. She had no idea why this affected her so much, but it did.
Alison looked Emily up and down and frowned. The brunette looked almost as bad as she felt and probably looked as well. She heard what Emily had to say and ran a hand through her hair. She'd been afraid it would be too much for any of the girls to handle, and that's why she'd never told them about Courtney, not to mention Alison thought she was dead and so did her family. Alison knew it would hurt Emily the most though. She followed her to the sidewalk and sat down beside her. Alison pulled out the necklace that was hidden underneath her loose tank top. "Emily, look. When Courtney and I were kids, we switched places a lot. My parents finally gave us necklaces with our initials so they'd know when we'd switched. See? "A" for Ali." Alison showed her the locket, hoping that would ease some of the brunette's fears.
The brunette looked over at Alison's neck, she then looked up at her face, a shrug taking over her own. She felt her stomach make noises, she hadn't eaten for over a day, and truth be told, she didn't want to, she felt sick, she felt weak, she just didn't feel like herself. Emily placed her hand over Alison's locket, looking over at the A on it. Emily opened the locket and looked at the photo of Alison in it, a photo of her and her mom, though what stopped the photo from being Courtney and not Alison? The brunette wasn't able to be trusting right now towards anyone, especially Alison, though she could try to force herself to do it, to get answers. She didn't want to be mad at Alison anymore, or Courtney, it just came automatically. ''I see.'' Was all that escaped her mouth. ''I heard my mom talking to my dad earlier, they want to get me tested, a psych evaluation..'' She opened up to Alison, knowing she might regret it afterwards.
Alison felt a little better having Emily's hands graze her soft skin again but she knew it wasn't the way it was before. That picture was one Alison had almost forgotten about. Courtney didn't have any with her mom actually. It was only Jason who had a soft spot for her mentally ill twin. That's how Jessica and Kenneth managed to keep everything a secret. All the photos in the house were only of Alison unless Jason was around which was rare. "What?! Are you serious?" Alison was actually angered to hear that. Emily wasn't insane and knowing someone who was, her own twin, she didn't want the brunette being compared to someone so crazy.
Emily nodded, letting go of the locket. ''It's what I heard.'' She looked down, placing her hands over her legs and looking over at Alison. ''You haven't gotten much sleep have you...'' She looked at Alison's baggy eyes and then closed her eyes, taking in one huge breath. ''I don't know who I am right now, I know it's barely been two days but it's gotten me so confused on who I can and can not trust... this isn't me.'' Emily felt tears stream down her eyes though she wiped them quickly. ''I can't believe you.. your family...''
Alison sighed and bit her lip hard. "I'm sorry, Em. For everything. I could do everything over, things would be so different." The blonde took a deep breath in and held it for a long moment. She slowly let it out and looked down at her bare feet. "I didn't sleep much cause she texted me. Twice." Alison admitted. "And I didn't tell you because...because I knew it would hurt you the most." Alison blurted out, too afraid to talk about how she had come to believe Courtney was dead.
Emily took out her phone from her pocket and handed it over to Alison, showing her the text from Courtney that she had received. Emily stood up in front of Alison and then finally came to her senses, admitting something to herself and to Alison. ''I.. I came over because I can't stop thinking about you. No matter how much I force myself to stop thinking about you, I just can't.'' She took her phone from Alison, not giving her the chance to reply to her words, the brunette walked away, heading home. Not that she had anywhere else to go.
Alison read the text over and over, gripping Emily's phone tightly like she was trying to smash it with her bare hands. "How dare she. She doesn't know you like that!" Alison shouted but before she could start up an angry rant, she heard Emily's confession. Before she could say anything, the brunette was already heading back home. Alison already knew better than to follow her. She knew Emily was the type to need time to process. Alison slowly got up and headed back inside her house, feeling even worse than she had when she woke up.
Emily walked home, taking the fast road. She couldn't believe what she had just admitted to Alison, though it was about time that she came out with it. After reaching home, the brunette was confronted by her mother and father who sat in the living area, waiting for her. They had worried eyes, her mother was crying for some reason, they knew something was wrong for Emily. After offering her to see a therapist and having Emily bluntly reject the offer, the brunette ran up to her room and slammed the door. She sat on her bed, crying. This situation had gotten her so.. confused.
Alison wasn't satisfied with just letting Emily confess. Sure they shouldn't be talking right now but the blonde needed Emily to know that this was hard for her too, that she wasn't alone in this. Alison quickly composed a text and sent it to Emily. "I know you probably won't reply but I think about you too. All the time. Please Em, just call me back?" Alison added the last part hoping that maybe talking on the phone would help at least a little. Alison buried her face in her pillows and sobbed hysterically. She was just lucky that after Courtney had made her parents accidentally send her to Radley instead, they promised they'd never make her go to therapy or anything to help her mentally unless she wanted to go. Radley. Alison had almost forgot her months there. That must've been when Emily and Courtney got so close.
''Emily...'' Pam and Wayne, her parents, walked into her room, a worried look on her face. ''You need help, you keep mumbling that there's two of them. Your dad looked around, there's no record of the DiLaurentis family ever giving birth to two girls, there's only an Alison Lauren DiLaurentis on record, which is Alison's full name.'' Pam spoke quietly, Emily's eyes widening a little bit.
''Mom, there's two of them, the twin's name is Courtney DiLaurentis, I saw her with my own two eyes. They were both there, two same girls, how many times do I have to repeat myself!'' Emily shouted out, though her sentence began quietly. ''There's two, and you better start believing me.'' The brunette looked at her mom who was almost convinced that Emily was on drugs.
Alison looked up to see her dad who looked clearly worried. "Alison Lauren DiLaurentis! You knew Courtney was back?" Kenneth looked at her and shoved the note he'd received under her nose. Alison read over it several times, her eyes still adjusting after being blinded by her tears. "Looks like you'll paying for a lot more than your second daughter, daddy. Better start looking because the truth is only buried with the dead. -C. xoxo" Alison couldn't believe it. This was happening. Courtney was coming back and making it out to be that Alison was the bad one. "I...I only saw her last night. I didn't know until then." Alison protested.
"Is that what all this crying is about?" Does someone else know? You know we can't risk that, Alison." Kenneth question, fearful that his so-called perfect family was about to be destroyed.
Emily raged out of her bedroom, her parents following her closely. She ran downstairs and went into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water. ''Can you both just leave me alone, if you're going to doubt me then there's no point talking to me!'' Emily turned around and shouted to them. Her parents had no idea what to do with her, they almost seemed scared of her.
''Emily, you need help, right now. You're always making up nonsense and you woke up screaming, crying and you were all sweaty, what is going on with you!'' Pam added after Emily's screaming fit.
''I told you, mom. You know what I told you. I saw them, I'm not crazy, and I don't need help!''
Alison sat up straight and hugged her knees to her chest. She let her tears fall down her face as she shoved the note back at her dad. "Courtney cost me someone important, dad! Who cares if people know?! Emily does and now she hates me!" Alison shouted back at her dad. She didn't care about keeping her family's secrets when she'd lost the only person who understood her. Emily was her best friend, and sure the other girls were great but they weren't Emily. Besides, they'd probably all drop her when they found out her lies as well.
"Is Courtney coming home?" Kenneth asked her in as calm a voice as he could muster.
" I don't know, okay?! I don't know anything except that she's trying to ruin my life AGAIN!" Alison screamed out, sobbing hysterically.
"Alison, calm down. She's not going to ruin anyone's life, okay?" Kenneth tried to reassure Alison, but he wasn't so sure that Courtney wasn't capable of destroying their family.
The brunette took deep breaths, her face was all red, her skin was warm, her parents were driving her crazy. She knew how psychotic she sounded. Emily needed to see Alison again, she just needed to be with her, no matter how mad, upset and sad she was, Alison was the one who could always make her feel better. She regretted telling her that she didn't walk to talk to her for a bit.
''You're staying home, Emily, you're not in any shape to go out.'' Wayne Fields, her father, spoke to her in a relaxed tone, though Emily quickly ignored him and turned around.
''If you want me to stay here you'll have to do something about it. I'm not living in this house, you'll have to hold me down.'' Emily spoke bluntly and slammed the door. As she ran out onto the sidewalk, she checked her phone. She dialled Alison's number and spoke to her once the distressed blonde answered. ''Meet me outside your house, I might not have much time. My parents are worried, they want me.. they.. they think I've lost it, and I think I have.'' She cried into the phone, approaching Alison's house.
Alison answered as soon as she saw whose name was lighting up her phone. "Emily." She was about to say more but she was cut off by the hysterical brunette. Her dad knew that she needed time alone when it came to talking to Emily, so thankfully he walked out of the room and went back downstairs and into his study. Alison listened and quickly threw on her jacket, shoes, and tied up her hair in a braid as she soon as she heard Emily asking to see her. "I'll be there." She agreed quickly and hung up the phone, sprinting out of her house. She stood outside, waiting for Emily, hoping that maybe this would be the conversation that got Emily to actually want to be around her like they used to again.
Emily finally reached the DiLaurentis house. As soon as she saw Alison, she ran towards her, practically breaking down in her arms. Emily gripped Alison's waist and held her tightly, whispering in her ear. ''I'm so sorry, for getting mad at you when none of this was your fault. I couldn't get it, get her out of my head, her high pitched giggles, her texts, it was all too much and I took it out on you when I shouldn't have.'' Emily smothered her face over the blondes' shoulder. She could feel this moment, she could finally feel the purity of the moment, of the connection they truly have. ''I'm sorry, Alison.'' She whispered to her finally, until she heard her parents stop the car right in front of the DiLaurentis house, with a Radley psychiatric male nurse with them. Emily turned around, a look of utter confusion on her face. It had taken her a lot to apologize to Alison, and she had been through hell for the past few days with her emotions, with finding out about Courtney.
''We did what we thought best, we don't want this for you Emily.'' Her father spoke to her, grabbing her shoulder, trying to get her away from Alison. Emily's parents still though Alison was not a safe haven for Emily. After finally grabbing her arm gently and pulling her away from Alison, her dad brought her to the car, Emily in tears once more, not wanting to lose Alison again. She tried to fight back, but her dad and the Radley nurse had a tough grip over her. The nurse spoke to her.
''It's okay, Emily. We can help you at Radley.''
Emily tried to fight back, she looked at Alison, the most sad look over her face. ''Ali, don't let them take me...'' She cried out. They then made her sit in the car, Emily's parents looking right at Alison. ''Don't ruin our daughter more than she already is. She's hurt, and you're no good for her.''