A/N: Inner critic has been super loud lately. Anyone have any duct tape I can borrow?
Chapter 20:
Dazed and Confused
Alison stared at Emily with a wide-eyed expression on her face. All traces of her warm happy buzz were gone. The room felt like it was spinning. The last thing she remembered was Emily picking her up outside the bar. The rest was a blur. She didn't remember coming home. She didn't remember anything.
"What the hell is this?" Emily held up the cell phone.
Alison was trying to read the look on her face. It wasn't accusatory. She looked confused. And hurt.
"Um…a phone." It came out bitchier than she intended for it to.
"Why do you have it?"
It felt like a fever dream. All she could do was look at Emily with a slack-jawed dumbfounded expression. She had no idea what was going on. She had no idea why Emily was so upset. It wasn't registering. Her brain had totally shut down.
"That's…" Alison rubbed her face, trying to wipe away the invisible pins and needles she felt in her cheeks. Something was wrong. She felt sick. "I don't…I don't remember putting that there."
"I'm a fucking idiot." Emily shook her head with a sardonic laugh.
Had it been Alison the whole time? Was it some ploy to manipulate her? Alison knew how protective Emily could be. Had she created a situation to her advantage…a situation in which she knew that Emily would protect her and stay close to her?
Alison had always been possessive. What lengths would the blonde go to in order to keep her close?
Emily didn't want to believe it. It didn't make any sense. Because the texts had started before the two of them had gotten together. Then again, a lot of the texts had been obscure and vague. And the very first threatening text she'd received had a photo of her house attached. Alison would have had the perfect vantage point to take that picture.
Then there was the incident with the fortune cookie. Had it been a coincidence that during her first week of school Alison had made a show of getting her and all of their friends fortune cookies after Emily had received that threatening fortune outside the gym?
Had it been a coincidence that they'd had a fight about boxing and then she was bullied into not doing it after having her drink spiked at the school gym?
Had Alison been controlling her this whole time?
Was she like Courtney?
Was Alison capable of that?
Surely not.
She looked at the blonde. Her bright blue eyes were glassy. She seemed to be looking through Emily. Emily couldn't tell what she was thinking, but she knew there had to be more to the story. She knew what she felt when she was with Alison. A passion like that couldn't be faked.
"Just…tell me there's more to this than what it looks like," Emily said calmly.
"I don't know…" I don't know what's happening… She tried to say it, but she felt a wave of nausea curdling in her stomach.
She had no idea why they were standing in her living room. Her feet felt like anchors weighing her down.
"Tell me it's not yours." Please.
Alison stumbled over to her. She yanked the phone out of Emily's hands. She plopped down on the piano bench and glanced at the phone. Then she started laughing hysterically, almost manically.
"This is dumb," Alison stared at the screen, her eyes lingering a little too long.
She thought she was hallucinating. She still felt foggy because of the alcohol. She regretted every single drop of booze she'd ingested. She felt like she was going to puke. She suddenly felt very hot.
Her stomach lurched. She leaped off of the piano bench and raced towards the kitchen. She wasn't sure why she didn't make a mad dash for the bathroom. For some reason, the kitchen sink seemed like the appropriate place to throw up.
Emily rushed up behind her just in time for her to see Alison grip the edge of the sink and arch her neck towards the large stainless steel basin. She still had the phone gripped firmly in her right hand. Emily instinctively reached out to rub her back in between her shoulder blades.
Alison hurled and then gagged several times. She reached up and turned the water on and turned her head sideways to rinse her mouth out. She drank some of the cool tap water and then turned the faucet off. She stayed perched over the sink for a few minutes, thinking more was coming up. But nothing did.
"I think I'm allergic to alcohol." Alison muttered, her voice sounding tinny from her head being so close to the sink. "I seem to throw up every time I drink it."
She lifted her hand and nearly did a face-plant into the counter. Her forehead narrowly missed the edge. Emily caught her and steadied her.
"Easy." Emily tried to hold her up to support her.
Alison turned around and stared at Emily. And she felt broken inside. She felt broken because Emily was so perfect and she wasn't. She was trying so hard to be good enough for her. Emily was so put together. And Alison felt like she was falling apart. Why was it so hard for her to be a fucking normal teenager?
She blinked and the kitchen started spinning out of control. She just wanted the wild ride she was on to stop.
Alison shivered, her emotions riding high. She had no clue what was going on. Emily saw the terrified expression on her face and she pulled her in for a hug.
"Stop it." Alison cried. Her eyes were filled with tears.
Emily wasn't used to seeing her cry. Alison DiLaurentis didn't cry. Alison DiLaurentis snapped and spit venom and was a feisty little warrior.
"Stop." She pushed Emily away. She sank down to the floor, her legs buckling underneath her. "I don't deserve you. Everything I've said. Everything I've done. I don't deserve you."
She lowered her head and used her free hand to cover her face. She still had the phone in her other hand.
She saw a shadow moving over her and she realized that it was Emily kneeling in front of her.
"Alison, look at me." Emily gently gripped her wrist and pulled it away from her face. "Just tell me what's going on. Talk to me."
"I don't know. I feel sick."
"Yeah, too much booze will do that to you," Emily said sharply. "Have you eaten anything tonight?"
Alison blinked, but she didn't answer. She couldn't remember eating anything. Maybe some celery and a few fries? She couldn't remember much of anything other than the drinks at the bar.
Emily hauled Alison off of the floor, much to Alison's chagrin. She helped her into a chair at the kitchen table. She grabbed her a glass of water and put on a pot of coffee.
"Drink." Emily pushed the water over to Alison.
Alison finally released her death grip on the phone and laid it gently against the table. She cupped the water glass with both hands. She sipped it.
Emily disappeared. Alison felt frozen in place. She was terrified that Emily had walked out. But she reemerged with a bottle of antacid and Alison's phone a few minutes later.
She had a strange dejected look on her face that Alison didn't understand. Why did she look so sad? Who had hurt her mermaid?
Emily stood by the kitchen counter staring at the phone. Neither one of them spoke. Alison didn't know what to say. She felt like she was trapped in a nightmare. Her temples were throbbing. Her eyes felt like they were on fire. She closed her eyes and buried her face into her hands and groaned.
Emily glanced at her. All she could see was someone she loved in pain. Her instinct was to help her. She sighed and put Alison's phone down on the counter. She grabbed a soft icepack from the freezer and walked up behind Alison.
"This should help with the headache." Emily gently put her hand on top of Alison's cupped fingers.
Alison lowered her hands and looked at the brunette. She nodded and took the icepack. Emily saw that the whites of her eyes were blood red. She was surprised she hadn't ruptured a blood vessel from puking. She moved a few wisps of hair out of Alison's face, letting her palm linger against her overheated cheek. Emily's touch was so warm. And it felt so good.
Alison looked up at her, but Emily looked away. She walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. She grabbed a carton of eggs and a frying pan.
Alison zoned out for a few minutes, only snapping back into reality when she heard the shell cracking against the side of the frying pan.
"Are you…" Alison's face twisted in confusion. "Are you making me breakfast?" She glanced outside. "Is it morning?"
Emily turned around, a sympathetic expression in her eyes.
"How much did you have to drink at the bar?"
"I lost count after the fifth shot."
Oh, Ali... It was a wonder she was conscious at all.
Emily turned her attention back to the eggs. They sizzled in the pan. It didn't take them long to cook. She grabbed a plate and scraped the eggs on to it and then poured a cup of coffee.
"What's with eggs after alcohol?" It dawned on Alison that it wasn't the first time that Emily had made her eggs after she'd been drinking.
Emily had made her breakfast in bed after Alison had stayed over at her house after drinking too much at the frat party.
"My friend Nick told me about it." Emily sat down and handed Alison the plate and the cup of coffee. "When I was with Maya we did some pretty crazy things. I've had more than my fair share of bad nights with alcohol. Nick taught us all about the art of how to starve off a hangover."
Alison stared at the eggs. Her stomach felt queasy.
"I think if I eat these I'm going to hurl again."
"You need to get some nutrients in you." Emily wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. But Alison didn't budge either. Emily gritted her teeth. "Ali, if you don't eat them I am going to take you to the hospital and force you to get fluids pumped directly into your veins."
She was concerned about alcohol poisoning and dehydration.
Alison pushed the eggs around the plate with her fork. After a few seconds she took a tiny bite. She grabbed the water to help wash it down. She repeated the process several more times until it got to a point where she just stopped thinking about feeling sick and polished the eggs off. She was surprised that it settled her stomach.
She put her fork down and looked up. She realized that Emily had been silently watching her the entire time.
They both looked down at the cell phone. Alison stared at it. Now that she was slowly starting to feel better she realized the gravity of the situation. She saw her phone in Emily's hands.
"So…" Emily slid Alison's phone over to her. "We have some things to talk about."
Alison glanced at her phone. There was a picture of Emily's house she'd never seen before on the screen. She'd certainly never taken it. Emily slid her finger across the screen and there was an image of the school gym being decorated for the Halloween dance. It was focused on the chainsaw that had nearly taken their heads off.
Alison cocked her head and frowned at the picture. She started to look up at Emily, but Emily moved to the next picture. It was a snapshot of Emily in the school gym. She was in the clothes she'd been wearing the day she'd been drugged.
The last photo Emily showed her was a picture from less than six hours ago. She was outside the gym on her bike. Alison didn't know it, but it had been taken fifteen minutes before she'd been run off the road.
"What is this?" Alison questioned in confusion.
"You tell me." Emily sounded defeated.
Alison could hear the pain she was trying to hold back, and it hurt her. It hurt her because Emily was hurt.
Alison finally pieced everything together. Someone was framing her to make it look like she'd been the person who was torturing Emily.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. Her eyes brightened in alarm. "Oh my God. I…" Alison shook her head in disbelief. "I've never seen these pictures before."
"What about this?" Emily slid the burner phone towards her.
Before Emily could move her hand away, Alison reached out and put her palm on top of Emily's fingers. She grabbed her hand tightly and peered at her. She needed Emily to look at her. She needed her to know the truth.
"It's not me, Em." She was wide awake now. "I swear. I would never do this to you."
Emily saw the conflicted look on her face. She wasn't sure if it was because of the booze or if it was something more.
"Then what's with these photos?" Emily asked. She reached for the burner phone. "And how did this end up here?"
"I don't know." Alison let go of her hand. "I wasn't sure what was happening after you pulled it out of the piano. The entire world felt like it was spinning. It still kind of does."
"What did you mean when you said you don't deserve me?" Emily asked. "You said you've done things…"
"Not that kind of thing. I just mean I haven't been the greatest girlfriend at times." She curled her fingers against the table. She looked down, not knowing how she could look Emily in the eyes.
Emily reached across the table and laid her hand on top of Alison's. She knew that Alison was struggling as much as she was, though their struggles were different. She knew that she'd spent years masking her pain by using anger as a front. Now that she didn't have that mask anymore she was facing some pretty intimidating things. Terror wasn't just madmen driving around in the fog and running people off the road. Sometimes terror was more subtle. Sometimes it was the darkest parts of personal internal struggles that manifested terror.
Hearing Alison admit that she thought that she wasn't worthy of love and that she was unwanted broke Emily's heart. She wanted the blonde to know she was safe with her…that she'd always have a place with her.
"It's a learning curve," Emily said softly. "I understand that. I'm not perfect either, Ali."
Alison felt the touch of her fingertips and she glanced up at the brunette. Her bottom lip quivered. Emily was so incredibly patient.
"But you are."
"You only think I am." Emily shook her head. "Look, sometimes feelings get in the way of people seeing our flaws. We look and we only see the good, because that's what our heart wants. But I'm not the perfect angel that you've put on a pedestal. I've lied. I've hurt people." She reached down with her other hand and put it against her stomach. "The father of my child doesn't even know she exists. You know how fucked up that is, right?"
"That's different. You were put in an impossible situation. And you had to make a choice. That's…" Alison shook her head. "I don't fault you for that. No one in their right mind would fault you for that. You didn't plan this. You didn't…you're not like me. I create these storms around me and then complain when it rains."
She pulled her hand out from underneath Emily's and wiped away a tear that had slipped down her cheek.
"I know I'm selfish and controlling. I don't…" Alison fought back a wave of nausea. "I don't know why, but sometimes the bitch inside just jumps out of me. I have this default setting of vicious and entitled. And it always ends up hurting you. And I hate it. I hate that I don't know how to act like a normal person. And it pulls you into my chaos tornado of destruction. It's so unfair to you. You have enough to deal with. You…you shouldn't have to be here babysitting me…"
She reached for the coffee, forcing herself to take a sip of it to try and curb her upset stomach.
"I shouldn't have gone to that bar tonight. I shouldn't have put you in this position." She looked at Emily, tears glistening in her eyes. She glanced at the phone. "I know what this looks like. I have done some really underhanded things to you, but I would never threaten you or hurt you…" She scooted towards her, chair scuffing the ground. She reached out and put her hand on Emily's stomach. "Or the baby. You have to know that."
Emily slowly nodded. She knew that Alison was telling the truth, despite the phone being in her house. If this person was devious enough to slip drugs into her sports drink and try to run her off the road then they were probably sneaky enough to get into Alison's house. Hacking into her phone was a different story. That was some next level deviancy.
Emily looked at Alison and felt a flood of relief coursing through her veins. But it was short-lived. Because even though Alison wasn't involved, she still had a huge problem.
She thought about that car swerving into her path. What if Alison had been with her? What if she hadn't been fast enough to avoid it? Or worse? What if something had happened to her out at that bar? What if someone had tried to kidnap her? What if she'd been hurt?
"You're in danger because of me." Emily looked down at her bruised knuckles. She covered them with her other hand so Alison couldn't see the shallow cuts.
"Half the town would take a swipe at me if they were given the chance. I've pissed off a lot of people."
"Yeah, but not this person. This person is after me. Specifically." She licked her lips nervously. "Alison, someone came into your house and put this here." She grabbed the burner phone. "You're not safe here. Not by yourself."
"So…what are you suggesting? That I never come home again?" Alison rubbed her temple.
"For starters you shouldn't be here by yourself this weekend."
"My parents will be home Monday. We could just lie low and have a Netflix and chill kind of weekend." Alison suggested.
"I've got work. I've got to finalize the lease for my apartment. And I've got to pack." She pursed her lips in thought. "I mean, you could come with me…"
"My head hurts." Alison squeezed her eyes shut.
Emily realized that she was going to be dead to the world in the morning. There was no way she was going to be able to coherently go out in public. She might not even remember this conversation. Emily had experienced her fair share of blackouts.
"You could sleep it off with one of our friends." Emily suggested.
"I don't have any friends." Alison rolled her eyes. "Besides, Caleb has got the security up and my door has a lock on it."
"Which clearly did no good." Emily pointed to the phone.
"Why are you making such a big thing out of this? We've been in way worse scenarios. Remember the giant chainsaw to the head? Nowhere we go is safe."
Emily wanted to tell her about the car. She wanted to tell her that someone had tried to run her down. But she didn't want to get her fired up. Because Alison was unpredictable when she was pissed. Emily didn't want to think about what she'd be like pissed and drunk.
Emily was trying to think strategically. She wasn't sure if Alison would be safer with or without her.
"We'll stay at my place tonight…"
"No." Alison vehemently disagreed. "You can't take me to your house drunk again."
Alison made a good point. Her parents were already judgmental about Alison. Emily didn't want to get more shit about it. She considered the apartment, but she hadn't signed the official papers and didn't have the key yet.
"It's just the most logical thing to do right now. I can't take you anywhere on my bike. Not like this." Emily tried to sway her.
"I think you're forgetting about my car."
"Sweetie, your car is halfway across town in front of a bar." And parked terribly out of the lines, too. She'd been an emotional wreck when she'd pulled into that parking spot.
Alison groaned and lowered her head.
"I do not want your mom and dad to think I'm some drunk hussy. Let's stay in the treehouse."
"And when this psychopath takes a chainsaw to the tree with us in it? Then what?" Emily asked.
She could just see the text composed now, "Rock-a-bye bitches in the treetops…"
"Emily, I'm tired. I don't want to go anywhere." Her ears were ringing. Her eyes felt like sandpaper. Her mouth was dry and had the weird sulfur aftertaste of eggs.
"Tough shit. I'm calling Hanna. We can hitch a ride with her to go get your car and then we can go to her place. At least for tonight. Until I can figure out what I need to do to keep this psycho away from you."
"Please don't bring Hanna into this."
"This is not up for discussion, Alison." Emily snapped. She wished Alison understood how much danger they were in. But how could she when Emily was holding back what had happened to her on her bike? "You can't stay here. I'm not leaving you to choke on your own vomit. I'm going to tell my parents that I'm staying at Hanna's. And you're coming with me."
Alison glared at her, but she didn't argue. She didn't have the brain capacity to argue. She just sipped on her coffee and tried to keep from puking again.
o ~ O ~ o
Hanna had been even less enthused about the idea of Alison staying over than Alison. But she went along with it. She knew that Emily was going through a rough time, and she cared about her friend. She asked her mom if Emily and Alison could stay over.
Emily had asked her parents about it and they said it was fine if she wanted to have a girl's night with Hanna. They thought that Emily was reaching out to Hanna to talk to her about everything she was keeping buried inside. They didn't realize it was because Emily was trying to keep herself, her baby, and Alison from being actually buried.
Hanna's mother was the most lenient parent in Rosewood. After Hanna's dad had left she had overcompensated and let Hanna do whatever she wanted. They had open and honest conversations, and Hanna's mother trusted her.
But she probably would have had a lot to say about the state Alison was in when she got there. Fortunately she was already in bed.
They had to haul Alison up the stairs because she was so out of it. Alison had barely made it on to the guest bed before she started snoring. She lazily fell against the mattress and plopped down, her legs dangling over the edge.
"She's a complete mess. What happened?" Hanna questioned, her brow crinkled in concern.
"It's complicated."
Hanna muttered an inquisitive "hmmm" under her breath and then looked at Emily's bruised knuckles.
"And what happened to you?"
Emily frowned. Hanna noticed everything. It was annoying.
"Again…complicated."
"I'll go get the ibuprofen." Hanna walked towards the door.
Emily sat down against the edge of the bed and moved Alison's legs so that she was all the way on the mattress. It didn't wake the blonde. She murmured Emily's name.
Emily moved the sheets and the comforter out from underneath her. She pulled her shoes off and then gently pulled the covers up over her body.
Hanna silently walked back in with a mug of water and a bottle of painkillers. She put them down on the nightstand. Then she motioned for Emily to follow her out into the hallway. They walked out of the room, leaving the door open.
"Are you sure she doesn't have anything to do with the threats?" Hanna glanced at Alison.
"I believe her." Emily nodded. "I shouldn't have doubted her in the first place. I just didn't know what to think when I found that phone."
"How long do you think it's been there?"
"The last text was the one I got at Thanksgiving, so probably around that time."
"That's so creepy. Makes you wonder if there are other things planted in her house. Wires. Bugs." Hanna grimaced.
"I should have told Caleb to do a sweep when he was putting up the hidden cameras last week." Emily shuddered at the thought of her stalker spying on her intimate moments with Alison. "You think he'd be willing to go by and do a sweep tonight? Make sure there isn't anything else there?"
"Only if they get a priest to cleanse the house first." Hanna flashed a cheeky grin.
"Not tonight, Han. It's been a long day." She didn't have it in her to banter with the blonde.
"Sorry. I clam up when I'm nervous." Hanna's cheeks flushed as a sheepish smile crossed her face. "Being snarky is my go-to move."
"Probably better than my go-to." Emily looked at her bruised knuckles. Sarcasm was probably a better coping mechanism than punching things.
"Who did you hit?" Hanna asked curiously.
"It's from boxing."
"Bullshit." Hanna lowered her head and glared at her. "Who did you hit?" She repeated.
"Stucco."
"The foreign exchange student?" Hanna's face scrunched in confusion.
"No, that's Stavros." Emily laughed. "I hit the stucco in my garage." She brushed her fingertips over the abrasions on her hand. The smile on her face faded. "I'm so tired of this shit. It was bad enough when it was just some stranger looking in from the outside. But someone actually went into Alison's house. Months ago. Who knows how many times they've done that since then?"
It was invasive and violating and so creepy.
"Hopefully not many. I mean, you and Alison spend most of your time there, and when you're not there Jason is there. It would be really risky for someone to try and slip in. Chances are they'd get caught."
Hanna's response sparked an idea in Emily's mind that she hadn't considered before. Emily pinched her brows in thought. She clucked her tongue.
"What are you thinking?" Hanna asked.
"I've been racking my mind trying to figure out how someone could have broken in without the DiLaurentis's noticing. Her mother apparently counts the silverware weekly to make sure it's all still there. She's a control freak. So not only would this person need to get into the house…they'd need to put the phone somewhere that Alison's mother wouldn't think to look." Her face tensed. "This is a stupid thought…but…you don't think…" She hesitated. "Jason has access to the house, which means so do his friends."
"Statistically speaking, 65% of break-ins are committed by people who already have access to the house."
"How do you even know that?" Emily asked in surprise.
"My mom is big on trivia night." Hanna shrugged.
"Is that true?"
"Yeah. We've been doing it every Thursday since I was seven…"
"No. About the break-ins."
"Oh. Yeah." Hanna pulled up the stats on her phone. She showed it to Emily.
"Hmm…" Emily frowned. "Jason hangs out with some really shady people. Ian and Wilden know each other. And they both have enough reason to hate us. It's not much of a lead, but it's something, right?"
"Definitely." Hanna nodded. "I say we start by looking for other hidden things. I'll text Caleb and see if he'll run by her place. Make sure nothing else pings his radar."
"That would be great." Emily rubbed a sore spot on her arm. "But tell him to be careful."
"He will be. He'll be fine. It's not his first rodeo."
"This is all so surreal. It still doesn't feel real." Emily looked in on Alison, making sure she was okay.
"It's so weird that phone was there all this time and Caleb couldn't get a signal on it. He says the fact that it was off shouldn't have mattered. Then he talked about boot cycles and something about remote controls…"
"Accessing it remotely." Emily corrected her.
"Yeah, probably. I don't know. To be honest I stopped listening when he got technical. I love him, but he's a real bore when he talks about hacking shit. But I do know that it didn't just ping his radar out of the blue."
"It's like someone wanted it to be found." Emily glanced at the sleeping blonde. "It's a little too neat…too convenient. I found pictures on her phone that were connected to some of the attacks that have happened. I feel like someone hacked it or something. I wonder if Caleb could trace where they came from."
"Caleb could hack one of those old timey phone books. We got you, Em."
"Thanks."
They heard Alison mumble something that sounded suspiciously like, "Em". They turned towards her. Emily sighed. She looked so small in the bed.
"She's going to be okay, right?" Hanna's earnest sincerity surprised Emily. She seemed like she genuinely cared.
"She's tougher than she looks."
"You've rubbed off on her." Hanna laughed softly.
Emily watched Alison mumble in her sleep. She looked so angelic when she slept. It was a contrast to the devilish glint she had when she was awake. When she was asleep all that sharp attitude faded away, and she was just a sweet soft simple girl.
Emily felt a pang of guilt. How could she for one second consider that Alison would ever hurt her?
"I shouldn't have jumped all over her. I should have known someone was playing me…"
"Give yourself a break. If you didn't consider everyone in your life a suspect I'd be worried about your sanity."
"I'm worried about my sanity." Emily rubbed her right eyebrow. She had a lot she was juggling.
"All this stress can't be good for you and the baby. Maybe…" Hanna drifted off. "Maybe it's time you consider bringing in the big guns. I mean, I hate the police, but maybe they can do something…"
"What about Caleb's involvement? His probation officer would have a field day with it."
Hanna sighed.
"We've talked about it. And he agrees. If we don't get answers soon things could take a really dangerous turn for you guys. He knows what it means for him, but he also understands that your lives are worth more than what might happen if he gets caught breaking the terms of his probation. You could die. And then what?" She glanced at Emily's stomach. "What about your daughter?"
"You might be right." Emily kept flashing back to the car that had nearly flattened her. It could have killed her. It could have killed her baby. "But what proof do I have? Other than the texts?"
"Your hospital bill from the Halloween Dance." Hanna replied without missing a beat.
Alison muttered something, but her eyes were still closed. She rolled over. The girl was like a pampered housecat. Beautiful and regal. And deadly. With sharp claws.
"I told you if I invited it in it would never leave." Hanna sighed and shook her head with a half-hearted laugh.
"She's not so bad once you get past the fangs." Emily smiled at her girlfriend.
"Yeah, well, I'm still dousing myself in holy water before bed tonight." Hanna ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced at Alison. "She is growing on me, though."
"You can look, but don't touch," Emily teased. "She's all mine."
"You can keep her." Hanna chuckled. "You need anything before I turn in?"
"No. I'm good." Emily said, though it wasn't entirely true. She felt like she'd been hit by a train. Her back was killing her. Her feet felt swollen. And it felt like the baby was sitting on her bladder.
"Well, you know where to find me." Hanna put her hand on Emily's shoulder before bidding her goodnight.
As she was walking away Emily quietly called after her,
"Hanna?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you," Emily said softly.
"You can thank me by naming the kid after me." Hanna gave her a cheeky smile.
Emily wasn't sure how to reply, so she just laughed. Hanna disappeared into her room and Emily walked in to the guest bedroom to get settled in the bed with Alison.
She unlaced her shoes and pulled them off. She carefully slid in next to Alison. The second Alison felt her presence she rolled over and curled into Emily's waiting arms. She curled her arms up in between their bodies and snuggled her face up underneath Emily's chin.
Emily smiled and melted into their embrace. The night had really rattled her, but holding her girlfriend made her feel like everything was going to be okay. Having Alison in her arms felt like the most natural thing in the world. She kissed the top of Alison's head and closed her eyes.
She was slowly drifting off to sleep when she heard her phone buzz from the dresser. The noise made her jump.
She felt sick to her stomach. Part of her wanted to ignore it. The other part of her was afraid of what would happen if she did ignore it.
She carefully pulled away from Alison, making sure not to wake her. She reached for her phone. She saw the unknown number. A photo popped up.
Her heart dropped. It was a picture of Alison sitting outside the bar. Her eyes were closed. She looked like she was unconscious. Emily almost dropped her phone in shock.
See how easy it is for me to get to her? Keep your mouth shut or I'll silence her…permanently. She wouldn't be the first girl I've taken away from you.
Her head was spinning. Alison's disorientation and confusion suddenly made sense to her. The same thing had happened to her the night she'd gone with Maya to the frat party.
Someone had drugged her.
Her entire body tensed up. She felt like she was going to throw up. She felt a cramp in her stomach. It was sharp enough to take her breath away. Her hand shot down to her stomach. Any time she felt any discomfort it scared her. Fortunately, the pain passed and it melted into a bout of nausea. She wondered if the baby could sense her emotions. Maybe her daughter was upset, too.
A cold sweat washed over her. She sat up against the edge of the bed and stared at the phone. She felt a fiery wave of heat in her body. Her face flushed in anger. Her instincts kicked into overdrive.
Emily rarely responded to the threats. She had decided when she first started getting the messages that if she argued with them she was only giving them what they wanted. But the longer she stared at the image of her vulnerable girlfriend the angrier she got. She swiped her fingers furiously across the keyboard.
If you so much as touch one hair on her head I will fucking eviscerate you.
She wasn't expecting to get an immediate response, but seconds later her phone vibrated in her hands.
Have it your way. You always did have to learn the hard way...
It was eerie and ominous, and it made Emily furious. She growled under her breath as she angrily wrote back,
FUCK YOU.
She fought the urge to throw her phone across the room. Instead she gently put it down. Then she wrapped her arms around Alison again. She held the blonde a little tighter than she normally did. The fear of losing her had knocked the wind out of her. She couldn't let anything happen to her feisty little fighter.
Emily kept a tight embrace on her all night long, using her body as a protective shield, as if telling the world and everything in it that the blonde was under her protection. Anyone who wanted to hurt Alison would have to go through her first.
o ~ O ~ o
Emily's body heat was scorching, so when Alison woke up the next morning she was burning up. But when she opened her eyes and saw Emily sleeping soundly she didn't mind that they were both drenched in sweat.
Emily had pushed herself as close as she could get to Alison. Her belly was squished between them. Her arms were like a protective barrier around her. The covers were halfway off of them. Emily was in an oversized night shirt that fell down over her thighs. Her legs were bare. Alison had kicked her pants off in the middle of the night. They were twisted up in the covers, leaving her in her shirt and underwear. Their legs were intertwined. Emily was softly breathing against Alison's face.
Alison's entire body felt achy. Her mouth felt dry and sticky. Her eyes felt swollen. Her skull was throbbing. Her brain felt catatonic. She vaguely recalled Emily making her eat something and making her take something to dull the effects of the hangover. She couldn't imagine how bad it would have been had her girl not stepped in.
She took a moment to appreciate the sleeping beauty cradling her. She loved being so close to her…so intimate. It made the hangover much more bearable.
Her eyes scanned the room. She had no idea where they were. It wasn't her bedroom and it wasn't Emily's either. Her mind was a fog. Her memories were jumbled and hazy. She remembered line dancing at the bar. She remembered Emily picking her up. She remembered asking Emily to stay with her. She remembered kissing and cuddling, and then flashes of puking and sitting and talking to Emily at her kitchen table. She was having a hard time discerning what had really happened and what she'd imagined.
She looked at her girlfriend and sighed. Despite their rough evening, Emily was still by her side. It felt right. She snuggled against her and bathed in her body heat.
Alison's arms were snug against Emily's chest. Her stomach was pressed firmly against Emily's. She scooted back an inch and slid her palm down between them. She slipped her hand underneath Emily's shirt, placing it flat against her belly. She hadn't felt the baby kick yet, but sometimes she felt the slightest fluttering sensations, like a feather tickling her hand. She could feel something that felt like gurgles, but no kicking. The movement was almost like a wave, like the baby was rolling over.
"Good morning, sweet girl," she whispered.
She heard Emily sigh in content. When she looked up at her she saw her smiling in her sleep. Emily pulled Alison close again. Alison gently moved her hand up, trying to pry it loose so she could brush her fingers against Emily's cheek. When she moved Emily unconsciously wrapped her arms around her even tighter. Emily's eyes fluttered open and she yawned.
The flood of light coming in through the window was hitting Emily just right. Her eyes had traces of smooth golden flecks flickering in the sunlight. Emily moved her shoulders and stretched her arms out beside Alison.
"Morning." Emily touched Alison's face.
"Morning." Alison hummed happily, despite the throbbing pain in her head. She let her palm fall lazily against the side of Emily's neck. "Where are we?"
"You don't remember?" Emily asked. "We ran off and eloped, hopped a plane, and now we're honeymooning in Paris."
Alison furrowed her brows, but she had a smile on her face.
"I don't know whether to be mad at you for getting my hopes up or laugh at you for being ridiculous." She pushed her lips out and laughed.
"Might not be such a ridiculous idea. Maybe we could just disappear. Give my stalker a chance to find someone else to harass."
"Did something happen?" Alison's face softened. Emily looked away. Alison didn't like it. "What? What's wrong?"
"Do you remember anything at all about last night?" Emily questioned.
Alison rubbed her eyes and shook her head.
"Was I an idiot?"
"No." Emily felt a little deflated about the fact that Alison didn't remember their conversation about being a family. Even so, she knew the sentiment was real. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I think…" Alison closed her eyes in concentration. "I remember kissing you." She opened her eyes. "It's all a blur, but…" She remembered flashes of them getting hot and heavy. She remembered pushing Emily for more. And neither one of them were wearing pants. "Oh my god, did we have sex?"
"No." Emily shook her head. "No, I never would have done that with you being as out of it as you were."
"Pity." Alison frowned. "For future reference, I always give you my consent to do whatever you want with me." She leaned forward and pecked Emily's lips.
Emily could feel how chapped her lips were. She could taste the stale smell of alcohol. Alison saw her flinch, but Emily tried to hide it.
"Oh, I probably should brush my teeth…" Alison pulled away sheepishly.
"In a minute." Emily sat up. She grabbed some water that was next to the bed and handed it to Alison. Alison sat up and took a sip. "First I want to try and piece together what happened last night."
Maybe if she could figure out a timeline they could retrace Alison's steps and see if anyone knew anything about who could have taken the picture of her at the bar.
"I hate to burst your bubble, but I think my brain cells are still swimming in vodka. It's a complete blur for me."
"Let's just start from scratch. What happened at the bar? Did you run into anyone shady?"
"No. Why?"
Emily sighed. She hesitated. She looked at her phone.
"I don't think you were just riding high on alcohol." Emily ran her fingers through Alison's hair. "I think you were drugged."
"What?" Alison pinched her brow together in disbelief.
Emily pulled up the message and showed it to Alison. Alison nearly leaped out of the bed. She moved so quickly that her stomach curled in on itself. She felt queasy. Looking at the threat coupled with the hangover was giving her a painful visceral reaction. Her face tightened in anger. Her eyes flashed in a rage.
"Oh, hell no." She stared at the message. She scrolled down and saw Emily's threatening response. Her eyes widened. "Damn, Em…"
She felt a heat pooling in her belly at the thought of Emily going feral on this person. She was incredibly hot when she was in fight-mode. But then she thought about the danger she could potentially put herself in by starting a war with them. And her arousal turned into rage. Because no one was going to hurt her girl while she was around. She would tear them to pieces. The harder this person tried to push them apart, the more they fought to stay together.
"You really think antagonizing this psycho is a good idea?" Alison asked.
"I'm not going to stand by and let them hurt you." Emily gently took the phone from her.
"Now you know how I feel." Alison muttered.
Emily felt guilty about the fact that she'd dragged Alison into her drama. There had been so many times she wondered if she was doing the wrong thing by staying with her. The last thing she wanted was for Alison to get hurt because of her. But she also knew that walking away was not an option.
"I'm sorry you're wrapped up in this." Emily sighed.
"It's not your fault." Alison put her hand against Emily's arm. "It was reckless for me to go out there on my own."
"It's not just last night. It's every day since I've moved here and every day going forward. I can't…" Her face crinkled. Alison could see the little worry lines in her forehead. "I don't know how to protect you from this. I just…I wish I knew who was doing it." She glanced at the picture of Alison. It sent chills down her spine. That someone had been that close to Alison. Something much worse could have happened. She looked at the blonde. "You really don't remember anything?"
Alison's face creased in thought. Everything was hazy.
"I remember talking to some guy at the bar. He said his name was…Cory…or Cody…or…" She struggled to remember. "I don't know. But I know he said something about Buffalo."
"Anything else?" Emily asked. She carefully looked Alison over for bruises and other injuries. If she found even one blemish or one hair out of place she was going to steal one of her dad's guns and go rogue. "Did you ever leave the bar? He didn't…you guys didn't go anywhere, did you?"
"I would never cheat on you, Em." Alison frowned.
"I know. But you were under the influence. I just want to make sure nothing happened…that he didn't hurt you or anything. You…you don't have any injuries or anything, right? You feel okay?"
"I feel fine. Other than a headache. I wasn't like…assaulted or anything. The guy seemed harmless."
"I just wanted to be sure." As it was, someone had manipulated her and used her.
Alison noticed the tense expression on Emily's face. She could tell she was pissed. She could see the fire in her eyes.
"I'm fine. I promise." She gently stroked her arm, trying to calm her down. "He was just some guy. He looked like a typical dude-bro, but he ended up being really nice. He wasn't creepy like the regular bar-goers. We just talked. I thought…" She sighed. "I was afraid you were going to break up with me and I just needed to talk to someone who didn't know either of us. I just wanted someone to listen to me talk about all the reasons that you mean the world to me."
"You went to a bar to gush about our relationship?" Emily's lips twitched, a small smile forming on her face.
"I gush about you everywhere I go. Why is this a surprise to you?" Alison asked with a smirk.
She didn't remember much, but she did remember fantasizing about Emily's breasts at some point during the dinner.
"I'm trying to remember if anyone was close enough to listen to us talking…or close enough to get to our drinks. It's all just…black. I just remember bits and pieces. I remember being worried about you and looking at my phone a lot. And I ran into this crying girl in the bathroom. Then after that things are a little fuzzy."
She dug deep, trying to pull open doors that were closed. Something clicked. She remembered a few fleeting moments of panic on the dance floor.
"Oh! I thought I saw Wilden at one point." Her face lit up. Emily raised her brows in alarm. "But he can't leave town. I knew I had to be hallucinating. That should have tipped me off that I was high."
"Are you sure it was a hallucination?"
"I mean…it had to be, right?" Alison asked. "Can't Caleb check his little GPS bug?"
"We'll have to ask." Emily nodded. "Where did you see him?"
"I think…" She just remembered seeing a flash of his face. "Oh, okay. I remember the guy asking me to dance. It was when we were out on the dance floor."
Emily drew back uncomfortably and looked at Alison with a frown. She didn't say anything, but Alison could tell that it upset her.
"Not like dancing dancing." Alison quickly added. "There was some cowpoke music playing. He showed me how to line dance. I don't even remember when the music started. We talked about hot wings and…" She glanced at Emily, "…you. I told him all about you."
"Anything else?"
Alison stared down at the comforter. She tried to remember something important. Something pertinent. She tried to remember exactly what he looked like…what he sounded like, but all she could picture was a shadow of a person. She remembered the stupidest little details.
"He had red paint on his shoes." Alison nervously rubbed her fingers against the bed covers. "And he dipped his fries in barbecue sauce." She made a face. "Who does that?"
Emily licked her lips. She felt a pit in the bottom of her stomach.
"People in San Antonio."
Including her ex-boyfriend. She felt a lump in her throat. She didn't want to consider the option that it was Isaac. She couldn't contend with the fact that he might be behind everything. But she had to know for sure.
She lifted her trembling hands and started scrolling through her phone. She didn't have many pictures of her life back in Texas. She'd gone through and cleaned everything out when she moved. She thought it would help her move on. But she still had a picture of Isaac sitting at a picnic table their last day of junior year.
He was looking directly at the camera with a huge goofy grin on his face. Emily had caught the candid image after she'd said something that had made him laugh. Sometimes the picture made her feel uncomfortable. Because it felt like a lie. She could see the look of adoration he had in his eyes. And she had never felt the same.
"Was it him?" Emily held the phone up for Alison to see, her hands shaking.
Alison glanced at the photo. She'd never seen a picture of Isaac before, but she could tell that it was him just from the way Emily had described him. She found herself curiously drawn to him, but not because of his looks. His smile radiated an energy that was infectious. It was no wonder that Emily felt safe with him. He wasn't a bad looking guy. He was actually really handsome. She couldn't help but wonder what features the baby would get from him. Between Emily and Isaac, Alison knew that Emily's daughter was going to be gorgeous.
"It wasn't him." Alison shook her head. Emily felt a flood of relief as she lowered the phone. "I might not remember much, but I remember enough to know that it was a basic white guy."
Emily huffed out a surprised laugh. It wasn't funny, but the annoyed look on Alison's face when she said the term basic white guy made the situation a little laughable.
"Ah, too bad we can't set a trap for that."
"I bet we can." Alison grinned. She was proud that she'd made Emily smile. "We could offer a free round of golf and tickets to Bonaroo."
Emily laughed so hard that she couldn't breathe.
"If only it was that easy." Emily sighed. "Whoever this is clearly isn't basic in any way. I mean…rigging equipment and slipping around in the shadows…" She shuddered when she thought about someone being in Alison's house. "That phone being traced back to your house while we were there. The timing was almost too perfect."
"Oh my God. The phone." Alison gasped. She groaned and buried her face in her hands. "God, I thought all of that was a nightmare. That really happened?"
"That's how we ended up here." Emily nodded.
They heard a loud rapping at the door. The sound did not help Alison's hangover.
"Oh. Right. Here." Alison looked around. She was in Hanna's house. She was in hell. Pure hell.
Emily pulled the comforter up over them.
"You two decent?" Hanna questioned from outside the door.
"Can you not see the 'do not disturb' sign on the door?" Emily smarted back.
"Cover your unmentionables. I'm coming in." The door flung open and Hanna waved one arm in the air dramatically while keeping her other hand over her eyes. She had on flowery pajamas and her hair was a cute kind of messy. "You two better not be doing it."
"Oh, yes. Emily, don't stop." Alison deadpanned.
Hanna uncovered her eyes and glared at them. She rolled her eyes.
"I sincerely hope you didn't defile my Nana's old bed."
"That's why the pillows smell like mothballs." Alison turned her nose up.
"Thank you, Hanna…for letting us stay the night here." Emily elbowed Alison.
"Right." Alison nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."
"Have you heard anything from Caleb?" Emily asked.
"He's in the kitchen. That's why I came to get you two. Thought it might be a good idea to go over everything we have so far. So put on some pants and then meet me downstairs. He brought coffee and breakfast."
That perked Alison up. She could go for some decent coffee.
Hanna rubbed her sleepy eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. She yawned and then turned to walk away. She dragged her slippers across the carpet as she disappeared. The noise sounded ten times louder to Alison because of her headache. Emily saw her flinch.
"How's your head?" Emily asked.
"Still attached."
"I made you take ibuprofen last night. I was hoping it might help." Emily leaned over the side of the bed. She grabbed a small bag she'd packed. She pulled out a mini bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of pain killers. She handed the bottle of light purple colored liquid to Alison. "Here, hydrate. This might help dull it down to an ache."
"I can think of a more natural pain reliever." Alison smiled and put her hand against Emily's bare thigh.
Emily smiled, her lip twitching. She felt Alison's touch in every nerve ending of her body. She felt an inclination to rip her clothes off and taste every inch of her. Alison didn't help matters when she slipped her hand down against the front of her pelvis, grinning as she saw Emily clench her jaw to keep her hormones in check. Alison felt her body twitching, pulsing in desire. Emily leaned forward to kiss her and then gently pulled back, shaking her head.
"Mmm. Not on Hanna's Nana's bed." As soon as Emily said it they both started laughing.
"It rhymes." Alison smiled. She sighed and then slid her hand up until her palm was resting on Emily's waist. "I don't know how you do it."
"Do what?"
"How you make me feel like life is normal…like everything will be okay."
Emily tried not to flinch. She didn't want Alison to see how worried she was. She wanted to make her feel safe. They shared a warm look.
Emily cupped her cheek. Out of the corner of her eye Alison saw the discoloration on Emily's knuckles. She grabbed her hand and pulled it into her line of sight. She frowned at the injuries.
"Oh, sweetie…what happened?" Alison delicately took Emily's hand in hers and observed the cuts and bruises on her knuckles from where she'd punched the wall. She kissed the abrasions.
"It's from boxing." Emily lied.
She wasn't sure why she lied. It was just the first thing that came out. Alison was already freaked out enough about being used as a human puppet at the bar. Emily didn't want to give her another reason to be concerned.
Emily gently pried her hand away and opened the bottle of pain relievers. She poured two pills into her palm and then handed them to Alison.
"This should help." She put her hand on top of Alison's, cupping their palms together briefly.
Alison nodded and opened the bottle of Gatorade. She knocked back the pills and gulped down about half of the drink.
Emily slipped out of bed. Alison followed her lead. The nightshirt flowed over her belly, but Alison could see the faintest hint of it popping out. Alison sauntered over to her. She touched her arm and then lowered her gaze to her stomach. She put her other palm against Emily's baby bump.
"I never asked how you're doing." She slid her hand down Emily's arm and gripped her fingers. "Stress isn't good for you. I don't want it coming back on you…or her."
Emily mashed her lips together and smiled warmly at her. She leaned in to peck Alison's mouth.
"We're fine, Ali," she said as she gripped the blonde's hand. "I come from a tough breed. Army raises them strong."
"Strong. But not invincible." Alison peered at her. "Don't forget that. I know I'm not the best example of being careful, but…I want you to be careful."
Emily had a sudden flash to the blinding headlights shining in her eyes. She curled her fingers into her palm and forced out a smile.
"I always am." She reached for her bag.
She turned away from Alison to hide the fear in her eyes. This person knew exactly how to hit her where it hurt. The torture was starting to get to her, but she didn't want Alison to see that. Alison watched curiously as Emily changed out of her pajamas. She could tell that something was off, but she couldn't tell what.
Emily handed Alison the change of clothes she'd brought for her and a little toiletry bag. She sauntered out of the room to go brush her teeth. Her stride seemed different. Alison didn't like it. It's like she was holding something inside, and she was afraid it was going to cause her to implode.
o ~ O ~ o
Hanna and Caleb were sitting at the kitchen table chatting. Hanna was scooched up next to him sipping on coffee from a to-go cup. Caleb had his laptop out and was splitting his time between talking with Hanna and glancing at the screen. There were a few bags of food from The Brew and two coffees sitting in the center of the table.
"Decaf is in the cup with the green sleeve." Caleb pointed.
"You're a lifesaver." Emily smiled. She reached for her coffee. She grabbed Alison's cup and handed it to her.
Alison stared at the cup. She kept flashing back to Emily's speech about not being rude to the people who prepared her food and drinks. She glanced at Caleb as she casually took a sip.
"Skinny vanilla latte." Alison smacked her lips together.
"With a dash of cinnamon."
"You know my order." Alison was surprised.
"It's my job." Caleb shrugged. He glanced at his laptop. "So, Hanna told me you guys had a hell of a night."
More than you know. Emily thought.
They both sat down. Emily pulled her phone out and glanced at the text from the unknown number. She felt sick every time she looked at it.
"I've got something new for you." Emily slid her phone over to Caleb. Hanna and Caleb looked at her in curiosity. "I think Alison was drugged last night."
"What?" Caleb gawked.
"Are you serious?" Hanna nearly dropped her scone.
Caleb reached for her phone. He furrowed his brow, his entire face crinkling as he stared at the text. Hanna peered over his shoulder.
"Who is this freak?" Hanna made a face.
Alison was surprised that they cared so much, especially given things were tepid between her and Hanna. And Caleb had never liked her. Then again, drugging someone was over the line. It would disgust just about anyone with a heart.
"Should we go to the hospital and have them do a blood test or something?" Hanna suggested.
"Hard pass." Alison shook her head. "They'd have to call my parents. Plus, if we do that we get people we don't know involved. And who knows what this sicko will do if they think we're talking?"
"Do you have your phone?" Caleb looked at Alison. Alison reached into her back pocket and pulled her phone out. She handed it to Caleb. "Emily, you said you found suspicious pictures on it last night?"
"Yeah. It didn't dawn on me that someone could have planted them until I got the message from the cyberbitch." Emily paused and thought about the text she'd gotten after she'd discovered the burner phone.
"You didn't think I was in this alone, did you?"
"Or...cyberbitches..." Emily trailed off.
"God, you think there is a gaggle of them?" Alison groaned. "Like a group of people working together?"
"I wouldn't count anything out. I mean, whoever it was recruited Cindy and Mindy." Emily pointed out.
"Speaking of, I think it's time for me to pay them a little visit. See if I can't get them to talk more." Alison frowned.
"I think maybe you should just take it easy today." Emily slid her hand on top of Alison's, linking their fingers together.
"Yeah, you look like the walking dead." Hanna agreed. Emily shot her a warning look. "What? You said she was drugged."
"She was. So be nice." Emily frowned.
Hanna shot them an apologetic look. Alison brushed it off. She knew Hanna didn't have a filter. It didn't bother her.
"Which pictures are the ones that were planted?" Caleb asked.
Emily showed him the images. He glanced at them and uttered out a "hmm" in thought. He talked about pulling the metadata from them. Everyone at the table just nodded, because they had no idea what he was talking about.
"It's possible that someone was able to upload the pictures with a portable device. They also could have put a code into the phone that pinged the burner." Caleb reached for a cord and plugged the phone into his laptop.
"Whoever did it must have known I was going to get her. They wanted me with her when that phone went off," Emily said.
"How could anyone possibly predict how that was going to happen?" Alison asked.
"Because they knew I would come the second you called…and that I wouldn't leave you by yourself when you were that out of it."
"Always and forever my knight in shining armor." Alison hummed happily.
"More like a hormonal bitch on a bike on the warpath." Emily corrected her.
"Even better." Alison smiled. She loved her motorcycle mama. "I'll ride with you any day."
"Gag." Hanna rolled her eyes. "Can you two not act like a married couple for like two seconds?"
"You really want to go there? Didn't you two get caught going at it in the band room last week?" Emily lifted her brows inquisitively.
"She's got us there." Caleb leaned over his laptop.
"You're supposed to be on my side." Hanna smacked the back of his head.
He looked up at her and shot her an annoyed sideways glance, but there was a slight smile on his face. It was a look that declared that he knew she was perfectly annoying, but that he found her too cute to be mad about it.
"I bring you breakfast and this is what I get?" He teased.
"You knew what you were getting in to." Hanna reached for her coffee.
"Ah, young love," Emily said facetiously.
Caleb's computer made a loud beeping noise. Alison's phone flashed through a series of screens on the table, where it was lying face up.
"Whoa." Caleb's eyes were drawn to his screen. "Holy shit."
"Did you find my naked selfies?" Alison asked sarcastically.
"You have nudes and you haven't sent them to me?" Emily faced her girlfriend.
"I've never seen anything like this." Caleb cocked his head.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Alison lifted her chin and smirked. She looked over at Emily, who had a look of intrigue on her face.
"You don't seriously have naked pics of yourself on your phone, right?" Her tone was an equal mix of curiosity and concern. She was worried about what someone might have seen if they had access to Alison's phone last night.
There was a strange inflection in her voice. Alison saw a jealous glint in her eyes, and it made her crave more. Emily was always so cool and collected. It was nice to see her with a little fire. It was nice to feel wanted.
"I was saving them for your birthday." Alison egged her on.
Hanna snorted out a laugh.
"Ali…" Emily grumbled. Alison smiled. She found her crankiness cute.
"I sincerely hope you're joking. Last thing I need on my record right now is child porn charges." Caleb glanced at the blonde.
"We're both underage." Alison shrugged.
"Doesn't matter." He shook his head. "Let's deal with Newd-gate later. Right now we have a bigger problem."
He spun his computer around so they could see what was happening. There was a blown up image of the picture from the prom decorating committee, but on the computer it looked distorted and the screen had several numbers and letters scrolling across it.
"What is that?" Emily leaned over the table to get a closer look.
"That is someone going to great lengths to keep from being tracked."
Alison's phone chimed. The screen went black and a large red exclamation point appeared on her home screen. Seconds later her image gallery popped up and randomly started scrolling through her photos. The newest ones started to disappear.
"What the hell?" Caleb spun the computer around and started tapping the keyboard furiously.
"What happened? Where did they go?" Alison asked in alarm.
"I don't know. They're just gone." Caleb frowned at his computer screen.
"What? Undo it!" Alison was on the verge of shrieking. "Undo it! Control Z!"
"It's not that simple." Caleb leaned over the computer.
They could see the wheels turning in his head as he went to work. He looked intensely at his screen.
"God, my whole life is on that phone. You better be able to get it back."
Emily nudged Alison with her knee. She glared at her, trying to get her to rein her temper in. Alison's face softened when she looked at Emily.
She watched Caleb anxiously. After a few minutes he stopped typing. He hit a key on his keyboard, emphatically, loudly.
Alison's phone blinked back to life.
"And there it is." Caleb unplugged the phone from the computer. He pulled the home screen up and scrolled through a few things. "I've got everything restored." He handed her phone back to her. "With the exception of the photos that showed up last night. The files were encrypted with some mess of code I've never seen before. It must have been a backdoor hack that secured the files. I'm not sure if any of the other files were corrupted or if there was some kind of tracking mechanism embedded in the photos that were planted."
"Can you repeat that in English for me?" Alison asked.
"Yeah. I suggest you get a new phone. I can put some security features on it for you."
"Did you get anything from the photos?" Emily asked hopefully.
"I pulled what I could from the images, but it wasn't much. I can try and track the source, but this is someone who knows what they're doing. Who knows what they had access to before I shut it down? This is some next level shit." Caleb's face was radiating concern. His worried expression made him look years older. His soft brown eyes had a lot of soul in them. "Look, whoever this is…they're dangerous."
"I think that's already been established." Emily nodded.
She thought about the car trying to hit her. She sighed and ran her fingers over her bloodied knuckles. She glanced at Alison and then at her friends. It was bad enough that Alison was in danger. She hated that Hanna and Caleb might be in danger, too. She really wanted to go to the police, but she was afraid something would happen to Alison if she brought the cops into it.
"This is getting really hairy. I don't know if I want to pull you guys in any deeper," Emily said warily.
"We are not leaving you in a lurch." Hanna was horrified at the suggestion.
"Hanna, Caleb said it himself. He has a record. If he gets caught doing this he could get in some serious trouble. I wouldn't put it past whoever this is to knock you two out to get to me." Emily strummed her fingers through her hair nervously. It was a habit she'd gotten from her mother.
"Which is exactly why we're not letting you two deal with this by yourselves. You need us." Hanna argued. She glanced at her boyfriend. "Well, you need him specifically, for the tech stuff. But I can kick ass if need be. I can start concealing weapons in my heels."
"Hanna is right." Caleb closed his laptop.
"About knife shoes?" Alison asked in confusion. That actually sounded insanely badass. She wasn't going to argue with that.
"You can't fight this alone." He ran his fingers against the top of his computer. "I won't let you fight it alone. I don't know who this is, but I know the difference between shady and dangerous. And I'm not leaving you two in danger. This isn't something that is going to just go away. And I can't in good conscience walk away from this. Not knowing what I know."
Emily felt Alison's hand on top of hers. She looked over at the blonde and saw a soft expression on her face. She saw something in her eyes that she hadn't seen before.
Fear.
It immobilized her. It immobilized her because she had failed to protect her last night. And it could have ended much worse. It was clear that she was shaken up about being drugged. Emily hated that she couldn't shield her from what was going on.
"There is strength in numbers." Alison replied quietly.
She looked so weary. So tired. Emily knew how hard it was for Alison to admit that they needed Hanna and Caleb.
"Yeah." Emily rubbed the back of her head. She hated putting her friends in danger, but she knew they were right. "You're right. I'm just thinking worst case scenario. It's hard to keep my head on straight."
"Which is exactly what we're here for." Hanna assured her.
Emily shot her an appreciative smile.
"Where are we on Noel, the twins, and Wilden?" Emily questioned.
"Noel has spent most of his time getting ready for the new lacrosse season, so he is usually at the gym or with his buddies. Cindy and Mindy are a little more active than they were before the break. They're getting out around town a little more, but it's mostly restaurants and boutiques. Pretty sure that's normal for teenage girls?" Caleb glanced at Hanna, deferring the question to her since teenage girls were not his area of expertise.
"They're not girls. They're demons." Hanna scowled angrily.
"What about Wilden?" Emily asked. "Alison thinks she might have seen him last night."
"I should have busted a beer bottle over his head and then held the shards up against his jugular to make him talk." Alison frowned.
"That's an interesting picture." Hanna seemed amused.
"Which bar was this?" Caleb asked.
"The townie bar outside of Rosewood."
"It would have been against his probation if he'd gone there. He has a certain radius he has to stay within, not to mention he's not supposed to be out in large groups. I can't imagine he'd be able to actually get away with that. But he is sleazy enough to do it," Caleb said. "The trouble is, the GPS signal in his phone went dead about a week ago. Same with his car. I don't know if he got wise to the idea that he was being followed or what. He doesn't seem like he'd be smart enough to figure it out on his own."
"I've met rocks smarter than that perverted monkeyboy." Hanna scoffed.
"The last place I traced his car to was an apartment near Rosewood's border. Could be something worth checking out," Caleb suggested. "And we can always check out the bar. See if there are cams that might have caught people coming and going."
"Yeah." Emily nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." Her phone beeped. Alison flinched, but Emily didn't seem worried. "It's just my alarm." She pulled her phone out and mashed her finger against the alarm screen. "I'm supposed to be at work in half an hour."
"I've got to run, too. I've got to get back to The Brew. I'm covering for Mike."
"Take my car. It's freezing out there." Hanna stood next to him.
"It's only a couple of miles. I can hoof it on foot." Caleb pushed his laptop into a bag and stood up. He slung the bag over his shoulder.
"Fresh air actually sounds pretty good to me." Emily looked outside. "My house is on the way. I can grab my bike and drop you off on my way to the gym if you want."
"Not in these temperatures." Alison interjected with a hard look on her face.
Hanna and Alison glanced at one another. For the first time in perhaps forever they were on the same page.
"Yeah, sorry Em, I don't ride bitch." Caleb shook his head.
"Damn right you don't. That spot is reserved for me." Alison yawned and took a sip of her coffee.
"Not going to argue with that," Hanna muttered with a laugh.
Alison gave her a smarmy look.
"As much as I love taking you out on my bike with me I think it's best if you just rest today." Emily leaned over and pecked Alison's lips before climbing to her feet. "You need to pace yourself after last night." She glanced at Hanna. "And with everything going on I think it might be a good idea if you two stayed together today."
Alison uttered, "What?" at the exact same moment that Hanna grumbled, "You're joking, right?"
"Neither one of you should be alone."
Alison peered at Hanna and then at Emily. She didn't say anything, but her expression clearly screamed, "I'd rather take my chances with the psycho-stalker."
"No arguments." Emily put her foot down. "You two work it out."
Alison clamped her mouth shut. She looked like a pouting child.
"Take my damn car so I don't have to worry about you catching pneumonia." Hanna shoved her keys at Caleb.
Emily grabbed her things and looked at Caleb.
"Let's ride." Emily nodded at him.
"You're the boss." Caleb shrugged, reaching for Hanna's car keys.
Emily turned around. She could feel Alison boring a hole through the back of her head. Alison didn't like being told what to do. And she liked being told what to do in front of other people even less.
Emily didn't have to look back to know that Alison and Hanna were both pissed.
When they got out to the car Caleb hopped in the driver's seat. Emily grabbed her phone to send Toby a text.
She had two missed calls and a voicemail from her mom. Emily made a mental note to call her back later. Her parents knew she was at Hanna's. Her mom was probably just calling to check in.
She pulled up Toby's name and shot him a text,
Something came up. Any way you can do without me this morning?
He sent a cheeky response,
How will we ever manage without you to keep us in line?
I mean, I could swing by and play you one-on-one for it, but then you'd have to stew in your humiliating loss when I beat you.
Nah, I know when I'm licked. You win. We'll be fine. I'm sure Jake will cover for you if he needs to.
I owe you a dinner at a fancy restaurant. You can get all the chicken nuggets you want.
I'm holding you to that. Hope everything is ok.
Rough night. Nothing a little time can't fix.
Let me know if you need anything.
Caleb started the car, and without even looking over he knew exactly what was running through her mind.
"You're not going to the gym, are you?" Caleb asked.
"My girlfriend was roofied last night. What do you think?" Emily looked up from her phone.
"I think we're going to the bar." He turned around and put his hand on the back of the passenger's seat as he backed out of the driveway
"You think right." Emily nodded. "Wait, did you say we? Don't you have work?"
"So I'll be late. Sabrina can handle it." Caleb pulled the car into the road. "Alison is going to kill you if she finds out you did this without her."
"And Hanna will kill you."
"So we're agreed then."
"We can never tell them." Emily knew what he was saying without having to ask.
As they drove off, their girlfriends were sitting inside Hanna's kitchen awkwardly looking at one another.
Alison was making her own plans, despite Emily's instructions to take it easy. She had been scrolling through her phone, doing everything she could to avoid any kind of eye contact with Hanna as they both nibbled on their breakfast.
She'd been going through her photos and found an old one of her with Cindy and Mindy and the rest of the "cool crew". Seeing them drew a ball of anger to the surface. They had betrayed her in the worst way. And Emily had gotten hurt at the Halloween dance because of it. She hadn't seen much of them around since then, but she knew if they were lurking in the shadows they were up to no good.
She stalked their Instagram and found a selfie that Cindy had taken at a bakery down the street. It had only been a few minutes since she'd posted. It gave Alison an idea, but she couldn't exactly sneak away from the babysitter that Emily had assigned her. If she ditched Hanna, the blonde would absolutely tattle on her.
She looked up to find Hanna doing the same thing she was doing...staring at her screen. Hanna heard her shuffle her feet and clear her throat and she lowered her phone.
"So…" Alison tapped her fingers against the table. She looked around the kitchen awkwardly. "Thanks for letting me crash here."
"It was no big deal." Hanna shrugged.
There was a blanket of silence.
"Your kitchen has a nice tapestry."
"Thanks."
Another round of silence.
"You want to help me interrogate Cindy and Mindy?" Alison asked.
She saw a spark in Hanna's eye. She hated the twins with every fiber of her being.
"Oh, absolutely." She didn't care that Emily had told Alison to take it easy. "On one condition."
"What?" Alison asked warily.
"I get to drive," Hanna said, reaching for her coffee. "Emily says you drive like a drunk grandma."
"It's my car."
"True. But only I know where the keys are hidden." Hanna lifted her brow with a smile. "Besides, the way you parked it last night was abysmal. It's clear you need some road lessons."
"Fine." Alison grumbled. She combed her fingers through her messy hair. "Just give me a few minutes to put on my face."
"Why? We want to scare them." Hanna had a sly look on her face.
Alison deadpanned a sarcastic, "ha ha" before she stood up. Hanna mirrored her actions.
"I'm going to get changed." Hanna stretched and walked towards the stairs.
"Don't forget your knife-shoes."
Hanna spun on her heels and gave her a genuine smile. It felt nice. Things were going to hell, but at the very least, some of that heat was thawing the ice in a lot of ways. Alison was relieved that she and Emily weren't alone in the dark. She had a feeling that as they dug even deeper...they were going to need all the help that they could get.
A/N: I knew Hanna wouldn't be super popular going into this fic, but it's been an absolute blast writing her dynamic with Alison and Emily, especially given that one of the most realistic aspects of the show was Hanna having a hard time forgiving Alison for all of her misdeeds (there is a teensy bit more regarding that in the next chapter). I will tell you that Little Miss Knife-Shoes isn't a complete stone-cold bitch, but she WILL cut a bitch.
I went back and forth with the fluff scene in the bedroom. I think I've written so much trauma that my brain can't comprehend sickeningly sweet things like Alison talking to the baby. I write it, and then I think, "I don't trust it. It's too pure..."
Congratulations, me. I have warped my own brain.