AUTHOR'S NOTE- New chapter. Yay! This one is heavy but leads to very good things. A lot of you want to know what happened to Alison before the start of this story. Of course you will find out but I think we should find out when Emily does. Don't you agreee?

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I CAN'T STAY HERE ANYMORE

Alison was at the Starbucks in the airport lounge. This was her fourth coffee in the past forty minutes that she had spent at LAX. One would argue that coffee was not your best friend when your nerves were as frayed as hers currently were. But the coffee was a distraction — something to hold on to, something to focus on, and something that pushed her to keep going when all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball.

Coffee in hand, she made her way to the couch in the lounge where she had left her things. All she had with her was a white leather jacket that she had worn over her pink jumpsuit, her handbag and a small suitcase. She had thrown together what she felt was absolutely essential and walked out of the house. When she had calmed down enough to realize she hadn't held Malcolm before she left, kissed his face or said goodbye she had broken down in the cab. The tears had streamed, silent and undeterred for most of the fifty minutes it had taken her to get to the airport.

Leaving people that Alison held close to her heart without goodbyes seemed to be becoming the theme in her life.

She sipped on the coffee but it was too hot and scorched her tongue. "Damn," she mumbled. Today was just not her day. Her thoughts floated back to the events of the morning…

"Have you been lying to me for the past two years?"

Aria looked up from the pamphlet with a confused look on her face. "What are you talking about? And aren't you late? Your appointment is at 9," she had responded nonchalantly.

Alison picked up the yellow envelope and placed it in front of Aria, over the pamphlet. "This is what I am talking about. You are from Rosewood. That just cannot be a coincidence."

Alison's voice was steely. Her eyes a deep blue with shards of light flickering in them like a cold fire-ablaze. When Aria looked up at her, Alison saw fear in the brunette's eyes for a moment but a veil of no emotion immediately replaced this. Alison knew instantly that whatever was about to come her way as an explanation was going to be a lie.

"Haven't I mentioned it? Of course I have. Why?" The words were said casually. Aria was a good liar but not good enough to lie to someone as perceptive as Alison.

Alison took a step closer to Aria and stood up tall. Her fists were balled trying to control the rage that was building up inside her. "You are lying to me!" she spat out. "Don't mock me any further. Isn't two years long enough? What is it that you are keeping from me?" Alison wasn't in the mood for games and her tone and body language aptly conveyed this to the girl seated at the desk.

They were cut off by Malcolm bursting into tears, the fury in Alison's tone scaring the child. Aria rose, soothing the baby. "Let me put him down. I'll be back." So saying she walked out of the office and headed upstairs to the nursery.

Alison was left alone with her thoughts, a storm brewing inside her. Last night as she had packed her things she had fondly thought of every memory she had made with Aria, Ezra and the baby. Today it was like a beautiful tower built on a foundation of quick sand and Alison stood there waiting for all of it to turn to rubble.

Aria walked back into the room and Alison turned around to face her. "No lies."

"No lies," Aria repeated with reluctance. The smaller girl walked over to the desk and leant on it for support. "I am your friend, Alison." Her words were met with a scoff from the blonde.

"Do not patronize me. You are from Rosewood. You didn't accidentally strike up a conversation with the new girl at the library, did you? You didn't instantly like her and ask her to coffee to get to know her better. You didn't come into my life and befriend me because of me. You did that for someone else."

Aria's eyes stayed down. She shifted uncomfortably but didn't respond.

"Who was it, Aria? Ian? Darren? Garrett? Jenna? Who have you been spying on me for? Ensuring their dirty secret lay hidden behind my sealed lips."

This time Aria's eyes flew up to meet Alison's. "No. You have it all wrong. I'm not spying on you."

Alison gave her a sarcastic laugh as she responded, "You expect me to believe that? I'm not going to be fooled twice. I am not 'that' dumb."

"That is the truth. I admit I walked into the library that day just to meet you. But the reason I walked in had nothing to do with the reason I befriended you. I am your friend. I do care about you. The reason it happened doesn't matter. It happened and this friendship means so much to me. You have to know that, Ali." Aria pleaded.

"Don't call me Ali. I feel like I don't even know you. Who sent you to talk to me?"

"Spencer." Aria fell silent, awaiting the reaction to her revelation.

Suddenly it all made sense. Spencer knew she worked at the library. Melissa had been the one to help her get the job. Spencer had known all about her life in Los Angeles until she had moved out of Melissa's apartment and moved in with Aria. At least that was what Alison had thought all along.

"Or we could meet if I visited California. Pasadena, right?"

That was what had been strange about the conversation. Alison had not been able to put a finger on what it was before. Spencer had no way of knowing she had moved to Pasadena. Unless …

Aria seemed genuinely upset about the hurt that reflected on Alison's face. She gently went on, "Spencer didn't ask me to spy on you. My entire family moved to Iceland after my graduation from high school. We had lived there earlier when I was a child. Once I moved to Los Angeles there was no one for me to visit back in Rosewood. Spencer, Emily and me were friends, but once I moved it was just conversations over the phone and emails."

"You knew Emily?" Alison interrupted Aria's story.

"Yes, I did. That's why Spencer called. She told me about the night at the café and also a little about what happened before."

"That wasn't her story to tell. I told her that in confidence. She promised it would stay between us," Alison mumbled almost embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Alison. I don't think she meant to disrespect you or break your confidence. She wanted me to look out for you while you were here. She did it to protect you."

"Protect me!" Alison's voice dripped venom and sarcasm. "Yes, she does that a lot. She sent me away from Emily to protect me. She made me leave without so much as a goodbye to protect me. She broke my confidence to protect me." Her words ran into each other as she tried hard not to succumb to the strain of her emotions. She held on to the drapes for support as she realized that everything that she had built for herself was just based on sympathy. She had no friendship; all she had was pity.

Aria walked up to Alison and looked straight into her eyes as she went on, "I walked into the library because Spencer asked me to. But I swear; I walked out happy that I had made a new friend. All of it was genuine. You can't not believe that. You have been by my side at every milestone in these two years. You were my maid of honor Alison. You are the godmother of my child. None of that is a lie. None of that has anything to do with Rosewood, what happened there or why I reached out to you. More than anything, I am thankful to Spencer for bringing you into my life."

"I was thankful to her too. I called her. Did she tell you? I called her to thank her for putting those demons behind bars. I had almost forgiven her for making me walk away from Emily the way I did. I always thought I found you guys- a family, love. I thought I had something to show for what I had lost. But I have nothing. It was all built on lies, thanks to Spencer!" Alison was almost rambling to herself, lost in the thoughts that were swimming in her head.

"Don't do this to yourself. Nothing has changed."

"Everything has changed, Aria. Everything. I can't stay here anymore."

"Don't leave, we can sort this out," Aria pleaded.

"I can't. I am grateful for your kindness but I can't be weighed down by sympathy anymore."

"This isn't sympathy. Ali, please. You are my best friend."

Alison smiled "You were my best friend too. And Ezra." Her eyes opened wide as she wondered aloud, "Did Ezra know too?"

"No. Spencer made me promise not to tell."

"So you lied to him too?"

Alison got no response. She didn't expect one. "I'll leave as soon as possible. I am sorry it has to be this way, but I need time to think and sort things out. I really do love this family. I just don't know if I can get past the lies."

"But where will you go?" Aria inquired.

"My Grandma's estate in Georgia. She left it to me, remember?" Alison had walked out of the room and headed straight to the pool house. She had called work and informed them she would not be coming in for the meeting on Monday, requesting that her assignments be mailed to her. She had then booked the first flight to Savannah and called for a cab to drive her to the airport.

As she left she had looked towards the main house and found Aria on the phone. Alison presumed it was Spencer on the phone and left without saying goodbye.

…

'The Delta Airlines flight to Savannah, Georgia, leaving at 14:50 is currently boarding at Gate 2. All passengers are requested to proceed to check in.'

That was her flight that was announced. She walked to the boarding area and as she waited in line she glanced at the huge illuminated departure board. Her eyes scanned the board and came to rest on her flight. She was distracted by the display below it flipping noisily.

'Los Angeles, CA – Philadelphia, PA 15:10'

Alison stared at the board, her heart racing. Why not? What stopped her now? Who did she have to fear? She may never be forgiven but what stopped her from seeking forgiveness? She had dreamt of her at night and spoken to her in her solitude. What stopped her from laying her eyes on her again, even if for one last time?

"Good afternoon. Your ticket please." Alison's eyes flitted from the departure board to the smiling blonde attendant. "Your ticket?" he repeated when Alison did not seem to make any movement to provide him with the requested ticket.

"No," she finally responded.

"Is there a problem ma'am?" he persisted.

"No," Alison repeated, her face breaking out into the broadest, most dazzling smile she had smiled in years. "There is somewhere else I need to be," she went on as she turned around and hurried off to the ticketing counters with a spring in her step.

She was going to go back to the little café on that street corner in Rosewood, to the girl with the warm brown eyes who took her in from the cold.

Guess what we have in the next Chapter? EMISON! Leave me a review; good or bad. I love hearing your feedback. Ciao