A/N: Hey guys, happy Friday. As always, thanks for the reviews and favorites/follows of this story. I love reading your reviews. I know some of you don't like Paige, but trust me, she won't be long for this story. There is still more that needs to be worked out between Alison and Emily, and Paige is going to be a way to help them do just that. But I promise you guys #Emisonisendgame. With that being said, on to the next chapter...
Emily sat at the bar and nursed her third drink since stepping foot into the seedy establishment on the outskirts of Rosewood. She had hoped that the alcohol coursing through her body would have ebbed her anger, but it only fueled the rage she had burning inside. Except her anger was no longer directed towards Alison, but towards herself. She cursed herself for the way that she had spoken to Alison. But hearing Alison tell her that all their family and friends were going to be at Jessica's party had flipped a switch inside of her and brought out a whole new side to the brunette. And it was a side that she was definitely not proud of.
She hadn't meant to tell Alison all of those things, even if it was how she felt. She knew that her head was a mess, and if she was being honest, she had been avoiding the blonde so that she wouldn't blow up at her the way that she had just done a little over an hour before. She knew that Alison had gone through such a hard time after having Jessica and she just wished that she had more to give. But she didn't. When she had to remove Pam from life support, all the rest of the energy she had to give disappeared with the flat line of the monitor. She did have the presence of mind, though, to know that Alison absolutely did not deserve the brunt of her anger. And that made Emily feel even worse about the whole situation, because all Alison ever did was love her, and Emily couldn't even bring herself to speak to her unless absolutely necessary.
Emily took a deep breath and blew it out. Her life was a mess right now, and she didn't know how to fix it. The only time she felt anything other than the pain and weight of her life was when she was too drunk to even remember her own name. And she knew that her family deserved better than what she was giving them. She loved her family, honestly more than anything in the entire world. She knew that she was failing at showing them just how much she loved them, but she had so much pain in her heart that she didn't know how to even begin to deal with it.
Everything from her past seemed to loom down on her. Her dad's voice was constantly in her ear, telling her to "stay strong, Emmy." Her mom was in her head, informing her of how she stayed strong through every change that they endured as a family. Her mom had always told her that she would have never gotten through all of her Wayne's deployments without Emily's strength. The words of her own swim coach interjected every so often, telling her how much her teammates looked up to her for her strength and resilience in trying times of adversity. How was she supposed to fall apart when so many people relied on her? How was she supposed to be weak when she needed to be strong for everyone else? Those questions kept flooding her mind, taking her unimaginably dark places within it.
Alcohol was the only way that she felt like she could stay strong. It numbed the pain enough to be able to function. But that's all she was doing, she was functioning. She wasn't living by any means and she knew that Alison wasn't truly living, either. And that was what hurt her the most. Because of her own actions, the love of her life wasn't truly living her life, either. She wanted so badly to be strong for Alison, but she was failing miserably. She had never felt so low and weak in her entire life. Alison deserves so much better than you, she berated herself. Emily was so lost in her own wallowing and self-loathing that she didn't notice when someone came to occupy the bar stool sitting next to her.
"You look like you could use a friend," the soft voice pulled Emily from her thoughts.
Emily never lifted her head, only side eying the red head sitting to her right, but not getting a good look at the face belonging to the voice. "You don't want to touch my life with a ten-foot pole, lady," she scoffed before bringing the tumbler to her lips and downing the remainder of the liquid within. She then looked to the bartender and tilted her glass towards him, a silent request for a refill.
The bartender seemed to give her a slight hesitation, but eventually walked over with a bottle of Jack and refilled her glass. He looked to the red head sitting next to her. "What'll it be?" he asked as he wiped down the counter in front of him.
"I'll take whatever she's having," the red head replied with a nod in Emily's direction. Emily quirked an eyebrow, but continued to stare straight ahead as she sipped from her glass. "So, you from around here?"
Emily sighed. She really hadn't come for any conversation. She just wanted to forget about the argument that she and Alison had earlier that led her here. She just wanted to drink in peace and hopefully by the time she got home, the party would already be over before she could ruin the day for everyone. But, something about the voice felt familiar to Emily, so she figured that maybe she could pass the time with some small talk. "Yes and No. Born and raised until high school, moved to Texas and then California, before finding my way back." Emily stared down into the amber liquid before swirling it in her glass and bringing it back to her lips.
"Emily, right?" Emily nearly spit the liquid in her mouth onto the counter in front of her at the mention of her name. She was shocked because she hadn't recognized the voice talking to her, so she had no idea how the person knew her name. "I thought that was you!" Finally, Emily turned her head toward the red head and got a good look. The shock had sobered her up some, but she was still drunk enough where her vision was beginning to blur slightly. She furrowed her brows at the person sitting next to her. The redhead placed her hand on her chest. "Paige. Paige McCullers. We swam together freshman year of high school."
Emily nearly fell off of her barstool. Well, this is just fucking great! She never imagined she would ever see Paige again after she had basically told her off that day in high school. Looking back, there would have been a time not too long ago that Emily would have liked to see Paige and apologize to her for her reaction to the video. But now, today, her sitting in this bar, Paige was the last person she had wanted to see. She could feel the anger rising up within her as each second passed. She felt like a volcano, on the verge of erupting. "Paige." Emily gave her the fakest smile she could muster at the moment and returned to her drink.
"How have you been? It's so good to see you!" Paige said, her voice sounding sickeningly sweet to Emily's ears. For the first time, Emily could hear the alcohol in Paige's words, a sign that the red head had already enjoyed a few drinks before planting herself on the bar stool next to her.
Emily downed her drink in one gulp and signaled for another. The bartender gave her an apprehensive look, but Emily returned her own look of steely determination, to which the bartender just sighed and poured her out another measure. "Make it a double," she said coldly. With a sigh, he doubled the liquid in her glass and continued to serve the few other customers mingling about the bar. "Paige, I can't say it's good to see you, 'cause it's not. But can you please just fuck off?" Emily was in no mood to deal with Paige at the moment. She didn't need memories of that awful day in high school flooding her mind, making her feel even worse than she was feeling at the moment.
Paige was taken about by Emily's behavior, but she was beginning to gain some liquid courage from the whiskey flowing through her mixing with the fruity drinks she had consumed before spotting the cute brunette and making her way to the bar. Little did she know that the brunette at the bar would be Emily Fields. The Emily Fields who she could've had something with if it hadn't gotten so screwed up before it even had time to blossom. "C'mon Em! What's with the attitude?"
Emily could feel her blood beginning to boil. "The attitude?" she said, trying to keep her voice low so as not to cause a scene. That was the last thing she needed right now. "The only attitude I have is that I think you are a grade A bitch!" Emily seethed at her. She felt the anger that she felt for herself begin to turn itself on the red head next to her.
Paige just laughed, making Emily's rage grow tenfold within her. "Are you still mad about the whole kiss thing?" When Emily didn't answer, she nudged her playfully and continued. "C'mon, Em, that was so long ago! Plus, that kiss was pretty amazing." Paige wiggled her eyebrows at Emily.
"You know what I remember about that kiss, Paige?" Everything in Emily's vision was beginning to take on a reddish tint to it. As hard as she tried, she wasn't able keep her tone low at this point. "I remember being humiliated the next day when the entire school got off on watching it!"
Paige threw her hands up in the air. "I didn't know Noel was gonna record it! But none the less, it was still hot! I'm glad I agreed to it!" Paige was beginning to sway slightly on her chair as the alcohol worked its way through her system.
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Emily's fists were clutching her tumbler so hard that if she was in a more proper state of mind, she would be afraid she was going to shatter the glass in her hands. She couldn't believe the words that were spilling out of Paige's mouth. She watched on as Paige signaled for another drink and downed it in one swallow.
"Noel paid me to kiss you. I didn't want to at first, but I'm so glad that I did." Even though Emily's vision was still blurry, she could see the look of seduction in Paige's eyes. She wanted nothing more than to punch Paige in the face for that. At that moment, she felt like the biggest pawn in someone else's game. Emily downed the last of her drink, needing to do something other than look at Paige. When she set the glass back down, she turned and found Paige standing right next to her, her body pressed impossibly close to Emily's.
Emily felt extremely uncomfortable at that moment. "Back up, Paige," Emily said in a threatening tone that Paige didn't seem to pick up on. Paige put her hand on Emily's cheek, trying to turn her face to her own. Emily slapped her hand away. "I said back up! I'm in a relationship." Emily could feel her words becoming slurred as the effects of all the alcohol continued to dull her senses. But the one thing she continued to feel like a knife was the rage she felt towards Paige.
"With who?" Paige asked, disappointment in her voice.
"Her name is Alison." Emily said, her jaw clenched.
"Alison DiLaurentis?" Paige asked confused. When Emily didn't answer, she took it as confirmation. "You mean the bitch that started this whole thing? The whore of Rosewood High?"
"Don't you dare talk about her that way." Emily's voice was dangerously low and she stood up from her stool, swaying slightly as she did and clenched her fists at her sides. "She is more woman than you will ever be!" Emily spat in Paige's face.
A smirk quickly appeared on Paige's face and without warning, she reached up and grabbed Emily's face, crashing their lips together in a sloppy, wet kiss. With Emily's inhibitions lowered because of the alcohol, she stood momentarily motionless, too shocked to move as she felt Paige's lips moving against hers. Suddenly, she was snapped back to reality when she felt the tip of a tongue running across her bottom lip. She brought her hands up to Paige's shoulders and pushed her away, violently. "What the fuck, Paige!" Emily watched as Paige stumbled backwards, into the barstool that she previously occupied. Because of her intoxication, she was unable to catch herself as she lost her balance and crashed down to the floor. In an instant, Emily was standing over her, her eyes boring through to Paige's soul. "You disgust me!" Emily seethed as she felt a pair of strong arms around her, pulling her back upright.
"It's time for you to leave," she heard a strong, male voice shout to her as she was led to the door.
Emily stumbled on the asphalt as she was pushed out of the door, nearly falling flat on her face. Once her hand found the railing of the patio, she took a minute to get her bearings while the world stopped spinning. After a few minutes, she was upright and making her way out into the parking lot. "Well, shit," she mumbled to herself as she fumbled with her keys before getting into her car and heading back to her house and her daughter's birthday party.
Emily ran out into the hall, as fast as she could trying to find Alison. She tried to push the memory of Paige's lips on hers out of her memory and focused on Finding Alison. After everything they had been through the past two days and finally feeling like things could be okay between them, there was no way Emily was going to let Paige come in between that. She just needed to find Alison and explain that to her. That it wasn't what it looked like. Anxiety rose inside of her as she thought of how she was going to explain the fight in the bar to the blonde, but she was would cross that bridge when she got there. For right now, she just needed to make sure that Alison was alright.
First, Emily headed towards Alison's classroom, but frowned when she found the door open and the room unoccupied. As her shoulders slumped in defeat, she had an idea and headed down the hall to the same bathroom that she had found Alison in when she first started at RHS. "Ali?" Emily called out quietly as she slowly opened the door. She heard sniffling coming from the farthest stall and knew in an instant that it was Alison. Frowning, Emily closed the door behind her and switched the latch to lock it. She didn't need any early students walking in on them having the discussion they were about to have. "Ali, I know you're in here," Emily said, her voice as soft as she could make it.
"Go away, Em," was the response that came back and Emily's heart broke at the raspy-ness of Alison's voice, but her heart leapt a little that Alison had used her nickname and not her full name.
"Please, Ali. Can we talk? Let me explain," Emily pleaded as she walked over to the stall, placing her hands on either side of the door and resting her forehead against it.
"Is this all just a game to you?" Alison asked after a beat as she began to tear at the clump of toilet paper that she was using to dry her eyes with.
"No, Ali. I swear to you, it's not like that. Please, just open the door," Emily's voice was still pleading as panic began to take over her body. She was so afraid that this was it. Her heart hammered in her chest and she felt a lump forming in the back of her throat that no matter how hard she tried to swallow, wouldn't budge. Her eyes became wet with unshed tears. "Please, Ali," Emily said barely above a whisper as she closed her eyes and the tears began to fall.
Emily stiffened when she heard the lock unlatch from the other side of the stall door after another minute. She moved away when she came face to face with Alison and saw the look of heartbreak in her eyes. Alison walked out of the stall without looking at Emily and headed straight for the sink, washing her hands underneath the faucet. She splashed some water under her eyes and then gently patted her face dry with a paper towel. She turned back to Emily, her eyes wet with more unshed tears. "It's true, isn't it?"
In that moment, Emily had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She tried her best to swallow past the lump lodged in the back of her throat. "What is?" she croaked out as her stomach was doing flips and she thought that she was about to throw up.
"What Paige told me, about that day in the bar." Emily's eyes widened in surprise. She stood there, shocked and unable to move. When she couldn't formulate a response, Alison walked past her and unlocked the door to the bathroom. "She told me that you guys kissed. I didn't want to believe it, but after seeing you guys in the lounge, I don't know what else to believe anymore." With that, Alison Dilaurentis walked out of the bathroom, leaving a shocked Emily standing alone, willing with all her might to stop the tears that were about to fall and being completely unsuccessful at it. Another thing I've failed at, Emily thought as she broke down at the bathroom sink.
A/N 2: Please don't hate me for the end, it just seemed like the most natural place to end... Please, let me know what you guys thought of it!