A/N: Fanfic has been super screwy with a glitch in the Matrix again. Hope people on desktop are able to view this chapter.

This one gets a little dark and twisty and rated M-ish.


Chapter 32:

Rumor Has It

Lunch was nearly over by the time they finished up in the front office with the official paperwork granting them amnesty for missing their morning classes due to court.

They passed by a trio of girls in the hallway. A frizzy haired brunette pointed at them and then whispered to the other two.

"Aww, look honey, we're famous." Emily rolled her eyes. She'd expected a fanfare, because everyone at school knew about what was going on. "The paparazzi is abuzz about our court date."

"What are you looking at?" Alison puffed up defensively, taking a threatening step towards the girls.

The girls shrieked and ran down the hallway, making noises between screams of fear and fits of laughter. Alison was primed to go after them, but Emily grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"You have got to stop chasing people down and biting them." Emily shook her head with a laugh.

"But I get so much pleasure out of it." Alison pushed her lips out in a pout.

Emily leaned towards her and gave her a peck on the lips. They separated with an audible pop.

"I like your mouth against mine. Let's keep it that way, okay?" Emily asked.

"You taste like strawberry glaze, doughnut girl." Alison licked her lips.

Emily threw her arm around her as they walked into the cafeteria. There was a large crowd gathered around something they couldn't see. They could hear murmurs as they got closer. A few people turned around to face them.

"What's all this?" Alison asked.

The murmurs grew in volume. The crowd shifted their focus towards the two of them.

"There they are."

"Is it true?"

"I always knew she was trouble."

Someone started shoving their way through the group of students, moving at a rapid pace.

"Move!" Hanna growled, ordering everyone to part ways so she could make her way through the crowd.

Her heels clacked angrily against the floor. Emily moved forward in concern. Hanna looked miffed.

"Don't make me go Moses on your asses, because I'll make a path with my fists if you don't give me one." Hanna threatened.

"Hanna, are you okay?" Emily asked.

When Hanna heard her voice she froze. Her eyes met Emily's from across the sea of people. She pushed her way through the rest of them and rushed over to them.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought you were in court." Her eyes were wide with an expression that Emily didn't recognize.

"We finished early," Emily said. "What is everyone staring at?"

"Hanna!" Mona scurried through a bunch of freshman. "I think I got most of the flyers out of the locker rooms. Aria is pulling the ones in the library down…"

The short brunette paused in her stride when she saw Emily and Alison. The look on her face was the same one that Hanna had on hers. Sadness. Irritation. And a quiet undertone of sympathy. It suddenly dawned on Emily that people weren't staring at her because of her day in court.

She lunged forward, pushing her way through the students in front of her. She heard Hanna calling out behind her.

"Em! Wait!"

The crowd parted for her in a way that it hadn't parted for Hanna. At the front of the crowd there was a large bulletin board. Someone had decorated it like a gossip rag magazine with pictures of her that left no room for speculation about her pregnancy.

In large bold letters above the board the message was loud and clear,

"Looks like St. Patrick got lucky with someone. We weren't 'expecting' this news! Guess who's preggers?"

Her first instinct was to rip it down.

It wasn't that she was ashamed of her baby. She'd been set to go public with her pregnancy. She'd planned on showing up to school and not shielding her bump. She was going to own it. But someone had taken the opportunity away from her.

Before she could tear it down she saw two pairs of hands ripping the display off of the bulletin board. Spencer and Toby were working together to take it down. Emily made eye contact with Spencer, thinking about everything Mrs. Hastings had told her. Spencer nodded at her as she worked. Emily gave her an appreciative look.

She felt a delicate hand against her shoulder. She knew by the touch that it was Alison. The blonde sidled up beside her. Her nostrils flared when she saw the set up.

Her angry eyes scanned the crowd. She spotted Cindy and Mindy in the middle of it, snickering. Cindy whispered something to her sister and then they both exploded in laughter. It was all the confirmation she needed to see that they were behind it.

The heated ball of anger in her stomach was roaring at an all-time high. She was sick of people disrespecting her girlfriend. And she was sick of the twins and their stupid faces. Without thinking she surged forward into the crowd, her sights set on them.

"Alison!" Emily shouted, racing after her.

Alison reached Cindy first. She slammed her into a group of sophomores, who quickly rushed away from the altercation. Mindy reached out to grab Alison's hair, but Alison spun Cindy around and used her as a battering ram, throwing her against her twin.

All the training she'd been doing kicked in. She let her instincts take over. She let the punches fly and wiped the floor with them for nearly sixty seconds before Emily came along and snatched her away from them.

Emily grabbed Alison's arm and dragged her through the crowd just as Ella Montgomery's voice came bellowing over the crowd.

"What is going on? BREAK IT UP!"

Emily pushed her way through some students, pulling Alison with her to get her as far away from the fight as possible.

She was able to break through the sea of students. She saw Hanna gesturing towards the door leading to the courtyard. The girls started running towards their escape.

Emily knew if Alison got in trouble for fighting it could spell disaster for her in so many ways. She was hoping that no one would snitch. She'd seen a couple of phones being pulled out in the melee, but Alison was moving so fast and it was so crowded she was hoping that no one had gotten any solid proof. Or maybe Mrs. Montgomery would cover for her.

After they made it outside Hanna and Mona stepped in front of the door, casually blocking it. They slowed their pace and walked over to the other side of the building.

"Oh, sweetie…are you okay?" Alison looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm fine." Emily reached out and traced her finger over a tiny scratch on Alison's cheek. She'd barely felt it when Mindy's ring grazed her. "You?"

"You should have let me finish what I started." Alison grumbled.

Emily gripped the blonde's chin with her fingers and moved her face side to side to look for other injuries.

"What did we say about starting giant bar brawls in school, dear?" she asked sarcastically.

"Make sure you have a broken beer bottle to use as a weapon?" Alison tried to get cheeky.

Emily shook her head with a quiet laugh.

"We have to be careful. We can't afford to get in any more trouble. So you need to stow that rage for now, okay?"

"Em…they blasted it all over school. They took your choice away. And that's not okay." She huffed angrily.

"Of course it's not. I know that. But at the end of the day we've got bigger things to worry about," Emily reached for Alison's hands, gently taking them in hers. "I love that you are on standby mode for me. I do." She smiled. She loved her little firecracker. "But I can take care of myself, pregnant or not. I went through all this before…all this hiding…not being able to be who I really am. I'm not going back. I'm not going to do it again. If I can live through coming out to my parents, I can live through this."

Alison took a breath. She knew Emily was right, but tensions were running high.

"If you want to bail Principal Hackett would probably understand if we asked for the rest of the day off and told him it was because of the court proceeding."

"No." Emily stood firm. "I'm not going to run from this. Not anymore. I'm not ashamed of my daughter. I really don't give a shit what a bunch of nobodies think of me."

Alison pressed her lips together and smiled in awe. She let out a breath through her nose and tilted her head. Emily was constantly surprising her.

Alison was ready to go feral on the entire school, but Emily was fighting back in her own way. By owning who she was. It reminded Alison of why she'd fallen head-over-heels for her in the first place. She'd rolled into town on her bike, so cocky and self-assured. It had set the tone for their entire relationship.

From the moment Alison had first laid eyes on her she could tell that Emily was a girl who was not afraid of anything. She'd been watching her from across the street that day. The confidence she exuded had been intoxicating. The brunette embodied strength and determination and patience, a quality Alison did not share with her. She'd been proud of who she was.

Emily did things differently. She didn't play by anyone else's rules. She was the first person who had ever come along and challenged her, which forced her to take a good hard look at herself. And she'd changed for the better because of her.

"Yeah." Alison glanced back at the school. The masses had scattered inside. She reached out to grip Emily's hand. "Fuck this place. We've got each other, and that's all that matters." She lifted their joined hands up and pecked Emily's knuckles with her lips. "I'm with you, Em."

Emily nodded, tightening her grip on Alison's hand.

They took a few minutes to regroup before they walked back into the building together, hand-in-hand. Alison got as physically close to Emily as she possibly could. She mean-mugged everyone who had the audacity to stare at her.

The girls met them inside. Hanna had an angry scowl on her face. Her chest was puffed out defensively. She had a piece of fabric in her hand that looked like a ripped shirt.

"Uh…need help burying a body there, Han?" Emily asked.

"She just finished reaming out some of the football players." Aria tossed a handful of flyers in the trash. "Cindy and Mindy spearheaded the whole thing and recruited the football team to do it."

"Of course they did." Alison rolled her eyes. "Two evil witches convinced giant dimwitted ogres to do their bidding. That used to be my signature raison d'être."

She regretted the moment she'd pulled the twat twins out of oblivion and started grooming them to follow her lead. She'd created the little monsters.

"We had some…choice words with them," Spencer explained.

"This is my trophy." Hanna held the ripped fabric tightly in her fist.

"It would be better with blood on it." Alison said, frowning.

Hanna flipped the shirt over to show a reddish brown stain on the other side. Alison's frown quickly flipped into a satisfied smile.

"I'm going to run it up the flagpole as a reminder to those meatheads not to cross us. If I could put someone's head on a spike I would. But this is the second best thing."

"You guys, this is all really sweet, but…I don't want to cause any trouble." Emily had to think about her future. And her child's future. The last thing she needed was retaliation. They already had someone threatening to kill them.

"I'm sorry you had to walk into this. We thought you were going to be out all day. We thought we could get it all down." Mona looked in the garbage can at the crumpled up papers.

"It was bound to come out eventually." Emily shrugged.

"Yeah, but you shouldn't have been forced to tell people before you were ready." Spencer glanced at the bare bulletin board that had just minutes ago boasted Emily's private life all over it.

"It's kind of the running theme in my life. I'm used to it at this point." Emily plucked a piece of paper that still had tape stuck to it off of the wall. "People are going to talk as long as there is something to talk about. At least with this it's not a bad thing. I'd rather them focus on this than pry about Wilden's trial."

"How exactly did that go?" Spencer's eyes lit up with intrigue. She looked exactly like her mother when she was digging for information.

"We're not supposed to talk about it," Emily said.

Spencer cracked a smile.

"My mother's work, no doubt. She put you under a gag order, didn't she?"

"Unofficially." Emily nodded.

"Well, unofficially, I hope that he gets everything that's coming to him." Mona reached up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe a few dozen barbed wired clubs to his face."

"He's in Rosewood. Not Attica. The best we can hope for is the whiny little tyrant getting outdated expired prison food or itchy sheets in his cell." Emily muttered.

She regretted not punching him in his stupid face at the courthouse.

"Maybe we can find someone on the inside to slip some antifreeze into his prison mush." Hanna angrily threw a balled up flyer into the trash can.

Alison shot Hanna a look of approval with a slight nod of her head, as if the two of them had some secret solidarity. She was impressed with Hanna's zest. For a split second it looked like they were mentally linking their brains and scheming up a plan.

"Damn." Mona's lips twisted into an amused grin. "Remind me to never piss you off."

"I'm just saying…between the six of us we have to know someone who can take care of him." Hanna shrugged.

"Discussing assassination plots in the middle of a school riddled with gossip is not exactly the greatest idea in the world." Spencer looked around the hallways. Most students were already in class, but she knew that there were always people who lingered and eavesdropped.

"Oh, relax, Annalise Keating. We're not on an episode of How to Get Away With Murder here." Hanna waved off Spencer's neurosis.

"Yet." Mona added with a giggle. "I mean…think about it. We've got the brains." She motioned to herself. "The bombshell seductress known to make men grovel at her feet." She smiled at Hanna. "And plenty of muscle." She reached out and squeezed Aria's arm.

"I do know a few techniques to subdue giant dicks." Aria paused, replaying the words in her head. Everyone glanced at her and she let out a little nervous laugh. "Yeah, I heard it as soon as I said it. I could have worded that much better."

"No, no." Hanna grinned at her in amusement. "I'd like to know more about these techniques you're using to subdue giant dicks. Do you use your hands or…"

"Okay…as thrilled as I am that we're not discussing first degree murder anymore, this topic change doesn't exactly paint the picture of innocence. You don't want to do anything that could screw up the trial." Spencer cut Hanna off.

"Did my parents hire you as a lawyer with your mom? Like a two-for-one deal?" Emily chuckled.

"Just consider me an insurance policy." Spencer slid a notepad into the side of her book bag.

The warning bell chimed, snapping everyone to attention. It was hard to care about academics when there was so much going on in their lives, but they were in a crucial time in their senior year and they couldn't afford to fail.

"God, when I get out of here I'd just as soon never hear another damn bell again." Alison rubbed her right eyebrow.

"Would you all do me a favor?" Spencer asked. The girls faced her eagerly. "Can you please behave? No more talk about maiming or torturing. Prison will take care of all that."

"I make no promises." Alison's expression remained neutral.

Her tone suggested that she was joking, but there was a twisted sense of darkness in her eyes.

Emily was the only one close enough to her to catch the look. She wasn't just angry. She was swirling in a rage. Wilden had not only harassed her and tried to kill her, but he'd attempted to kill Emily and the baby. Seeing him in the courtroom had reignited an angry fire in her she hadn't felt since the night on the rooftop in New York. She had been ready to kill him that night.

"You've got that test in Biology. You really shouldn't be late." Emily tried to draw her out of her thoughts. "Come on. I'll walk you."

Alison blinked like she was slowly coming out of a daydream, no doubt a daydream about pummeling Wilden to death. She smiled at her girlfriend and took her hand without a word.

"I'll see you all in Trig." Emily waved to their friends.

The girls broke away to run to their lockers. Emily and Alison made their way around the corner. They didn't notice a pair of eyes watching them from beneath the shadow of a dark hoodie.

Alison was quiet as they strolled through the halls. They saw lingering remnants of torn paper and tape from where all the announcements about Emily's pregnancy had been ripped down by their friends.

Alison had never stopped to thank the girls. They had really stepped up to support Emily, and she was appreciative of that. She'd never know for sure whether they put up with her for Emily's sake or if they'd really warmed up to her, but she didn't care either way. Because she liked having them around.

She realized what she'd missed out on when they were kids. She used to see them playing together, and she'd always thought she was above them. But if she had just swallowed her pride she could have gotten to know Emily a lot better sooner.

Still, things had seemed to work out the way they were supposed to. It hadn't been an easy road, but she had managed to shed her nasty image and become a better person. She was the happiest she had ever been.

She liked having genuine relationships. It was much better than having to rein people in with intimidation and fear. She didn't need that toxicity in her life. She couldn't imagine how many people like Emily she'd hurt over the years with pranks as cruel as the one Cindy and Mindy had just pulled on her girlfriend.

What had she seen in people like that in the first place? She was much better off with the friends that she had now.

She'd found some common ground with Hanna. The wily blonde seemed to somewhat accept her. She even texted her every so often. She wasn't really close to any of the other girls, but she liked them.

She knew that more than likely they'd never see each other after high school. They'd all go their separate ways. Spencer and Mona would be off to their Ivy League prep academies soon. Hanna had been talking about fashion design, though she didn't have a set plan for what she wanted to do yet. Aria hadn't talked much about her future. Or perhaps Alison just hadn't listened to her. She regretted not being nicer to them sooner. They were all decent people.

When they got to Alison's Biology Lab Emily paused in the doorway. Alison glanced in the classroom and saw students piling in. She could see them looking at Emily. She could practically hear the whispers.

"After that bullshit the twins pulled I should be the one walking you to class." Alison squeezed Emily's hand.

The brunette seemed to be holding everything together remarkably well. She didn't seem bothered.

"Are you really okay?" Alison questioned, her brow furrowed in concern.

Emily answered with a smile. She cupped Alison's cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss, grinning. Alison was momentarily distracted, flustered by Emily's show of passion. She was so flummoxed that she'd almost forgotten what they'd been talking about before the kiss.

She pecked Emily's lips with a wide grin.

"You didn't answer the question."

Emily caressed her cheek. She thought Alison's concern was sweet. She hated that her pregnancy had come out the way that it did, but at least she didn't have to hide it anymore.

"I'm fine." She let her hand fall away, glancing at the clock. "Gotta run. But I'll catch you in English, okay?"

Alison turned towards the classroom. Normally she'd be on edge about the test she was about to take, but after their morning in court and the commotion in the lunchroom she was yearning for something normal and mundane.

She had barely gotten through the door before Emily heard her threaten people with violence if she heard one word about the rumors.

She walked away from the room chuckling. She pulled her phone out to check the time. She also checked to see if Wilden's playmate had taken the bait.

She didn't have any new messages.

She put her phone up and scurried to get to her locker. She spun the dial and quickly flipped it open to grab her things. She reached for her Trigonometry book.

As she was closing her locker she caught a glimpse of a photo she'd put up of a beautiful sunset in San Antonio. She had taken it her last night in Texas. She remembered thinking about how the sun was setting on her old life and would rise again and it would be entirely different.

She traced her fingers over the photo. It brought back memories of the last ride she'd taken through her old town. But it also sparked a memory that she'd been repressing for months.

o ~ O ~ o

She'd taken her bike out for a spin that evening, much to her mother's chagrin. They'd been in a tiny little motel room. It was only for one night, but the close quarters had started to take its toll on Emily, especially with her parents prattling on about all the changes in their lives and whispering in the bathroom about her sexuality and the pregnancy.

She couldn't help but feel like everything was all her fault. The room felt like it was closing in on her. She had told her mom and dad she needed some air.

"It's almost dark." Her mother had complained.

"That's why God invented headlights." Emily had shrugged and grabbed the key to her bike.

Her father had muttered something about not staying out long, because they were leaving first thing in the morning.

Emily had rushed out to the parking lot, where the moving van was parked. Her bike was right next to it. They hadn't loaded it on the trailer yet. She was still miffed that her mother refused to let her ride it to Pennsylvania.

She had hopped on it without a destination in mind. She rode into the sunset, quite literally, taking in the sights and sounds and smells of San Antonio for the last time.

She'd ended up at her house, sitting on her idling bike as she thought about the past several years. She had been through so much with the break up and the pregnancy that she hadn't even begun to process the move.

She wasn't a stranger to being uprooted, but this was the first time that the move was because of her. She tried to look at it as a good thing. She needed a fresh start. A new beginning. But that didn't mean leaving was easy for her.

She absentmindedly moved her hand down over her stomach. It was still flat, but she could feel the tiniest bit of difference in the shape of her body. She'd wrestled with the ideas of abortion, adoption, and keeping the baby.

The only thing she knew for sure was that in a few months things were going to be very different for her. But as she watched the colors dancing in the sky she'd felt at peace.

She'd rolled her bike up the driveway and parked. She'd dismounted and pulled her phone out to snap a few pictures, knowing the importance of having remnants of her old life.

She'd turned to face the house that had been her home since seventh grade. It hadn't been all bad.

It was weird seeing it with all of the electricity turned off. She'd taken a few pictures of the house and then walked towards it.

Daylight was slowly starting to fade, but there was just enough light for her to see when she walked inside. It looked huge without all of their belongings in it. She walked around the big empty place. It was so quiet that she could hear every creak in the floorboard.

She slowly made her way through the house thinking about all of the memories she'd made there.

Watching movies with her dad when he was home. Cooking with her mother. Hanging out with Nick on the porch when his parents were fighting. Doing homework with Isaac in the living room. Movie nights with Maya.

Maya.

She missed her girlfriend more than anything. She walked towards her bedroom, remembering all the moments she'd shared with her. Her first kiss with Maya. Her first time with Maya.

It had been when her parents were out of town. The only advantage to being in the closet was that her parents had been perfectly fine with Maya staying over to keep her company when she was alone.

One night it had turned into more than company. While she had been cleaning up in the kitchen Maya had decorated her room with sparkling blue lights and created an underwater adventure above ground. She'd set up candles and dimmed the lighting. It looked like something you would only see in a dream.

She remembered walking in and seeing Maya waiting with a huge smile on her face.

That night had been unforgettable.

She'd had a lot of unforgettable nights at the house, and seeing it for the last time served as a reminder of how many memories she was leaving behind. Some good. Some bad.

When she pushed her bedroom door open the last thing she expected to see was someone moving in the shadows.

She heard the movement seconds before she saw the silhouette near her window. Her heart lurched so hard she felt it in her throat. She looked around for something she could use as a weapon, but a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"You came back." Her blonde hair shimmered in the light of the fading sun.

"Courtney?" Emily froze. "What are you doing here?"

Courtney stepped into the light. She looked annoyed at the question.

"What are YOU doing here? I thought you were gone." She sounded perturbed, like Emily was trespassing on her private property. Like she was the intruder.

"We're leaving in the morning." Emily glanced at the door.

She thought about turning around and leaving Courtney behind, but then she heard her sigh.

"Wait." Courtney's voice was quiet. It caught Emily's attention just enough to stop her from walking out. "You just startled me. I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here. I was at Nick's house. He got into it with his parents. I just wanted a few minutes of peace and quiet."

Courtney hugged her chest and shrank in on herself. Emily hated it. She hated it when Courtney looked so small and defenseless. She knew it was a trap. She always knew. But she fell for it every time. Or maybe a little part of her hoped that things would be different, that maybe Courtney wasn't so terrible. That she could be a human being for once. She wanted to believe in the good in people, even though Courtney had showed her time and time again who she was at heart.

"Why didn't you just go home?" Emily took a step towards her.

"Because my brother is the biggest sad sack in the world right now thanks to you. He's miserable to be around." Her tone wavered between sadness and irritation.

Emily didn't know how to respond. She knew Isaac was in pain. And she knew it was her fault. She knew Courtney was manipulating her. She knew that the blonde was using Isaac's pain to her advantage. But she didn't care. Because tomorrow morning she would be free of it all.

Emily brushed off Courtney's comment. She walked over to the window and looked at Nick's house. It looked calm, but she knew that darkness lurked behind hidden doors sometimes. His home life wasn't perfect. But then again, neither was hers.

"What are they fighting about?" She dragged two of her fingers against the windowpane.

Courtney shrugged. She moved next to Emily and looked out the window. Her eyes were fixed on the glass, like she couldn't see beyond it. She was staring at her reflection with a strange hatred in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter. He won't have to deal with them much longer."

Emily didn't reply. She kept her eyes glued to her neighbor's house. She thought about how Nick and Isaac had showed up in the nick of time at that frat party. She hadn't processed how much she was going to miss her friends.

"Do you love him?" Emily turned towards her.

The question was so pointed and direct that it stunned Courtney into a strange sort of silence. She was taken aback.

"Why?" She asked with an attitude.

"Because he's a good guy. And if you're just using him as some kind of pawn…if you fuck with his heart…"

"Like the way you fucked with Isaac's heart?" Her words were sour and cut into Emily.

But Emily didn't take the bait.

"I'm not going to fight with you. Not this time." Emily replied calmly. She laid her hand against the windowsill. "I'm leaving. But that doesn't mean I don't care about the people I'm leaving behind. Isaac…Nick…they're good people. And if I find out that you're messing with them…"

"God, you're so self-righteous." The blonde scoffed, gripping the edge of the windowsill so tight that her knuckles turned white. "You're not going to do anything. This place is just a memory for you now. You claim to care about people and then you just toss them aside like used garbage. You're running away."

"I'm not running away. I'm moving." Emily corrected her.

"Bullshit." Her nostrils flared. Her breath fogged up the window. "You don't care. You never cared."

"Of course I do," she snapped, unable to resist the pull of Courtney's argument.

"You said you care about Nick. And Isaac." She peered into Emily's eyes. She had a subdued look of sadness on her face. "What about me? Don't you care about me?"

Emily opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Her feelings about Courtney were complicated. She had hated her for so long. But where did that hatred come from? It couldn't simply be her horrid attitude or the fact that she was a bully. It was more than that. Because hate could only exist if you cared enough to hate someone. Did she care about the blonde?

"Of course you don't care." Courtney turned away to look out the window again, her heart-shaped lips puffed out in a pout. "No one cares about me."

"Because you push people away." Emily answered quietly. "You make it impossible for everyone around you to care about you."

There was a beat of silence. Then Courtney sighed.

"Not everyone." She slid her fingers over towards Emily's, their knuckles brushing together. "Not you." She licked her lips, tilting her head slightly, like she was trying to figure something out. "You're different, Emily."

Just as Emily was getting ready to pull her hand away, Courtney slid her fingers through Emily's fingertips, snaking their hands together. She moved closer to Emily, forcing the brunette to instinctively move to the side, away from the window.

Courtney wasn't deterred. She followed Emily, backing her into her bedroom wall. Her lips hovered over Emily's. She was so close that Emily could taste the deadly sweet nectar of her breath. Emily quietly protested.

"Courtney, I don't…"

"Please…" Courtney's voice broke, a quiet beg escaping her lips. Her voice was strained and loaded with emotion. "Just let me have this one time."

Her sincerity stunned Emily. She couldn't speak. And she didn't stop her. She didn't know how. She could feel Courtney's agony, but it didn't make sense to her.

Courtney moved her free hand up against Emily's neck, paralyzing her senses. They gazed at one another in the dim light streaming through the window. Emily could see tears gleaming in her cold blue eyes. Courtney leaned forward, her soft lips capturing hers delicately.

Emily didn't kiss her back, but she couldn't push her away either. It was like every other time that Courtney had lured her in with her sensuality, but there was a notable difference in the blonde's actions this time.

She was softer.

It felt real.

Courtney cupped Emily's cheek, her fingers caressing her jaw line. Her skin was smooth, like silk. The warmth of it beneath her fingertips made her want to feel more. She wanted to feel the heat radiating off of her body. She wanted to see the look on Emily's face as she held her down and claimed her...sent her into a world of desire that the brunette had never known, certainly at least not with Isaac.

Her brother was sloppy and didn't know how to treasure what he had. The first time she overheard them in his bedroom fucking like jackrabbits she'd cracked his door to watch. She'd decided to record it to use as leverage against him, something she could use to blackmail him in case he ever decided to cross her. But as she'd watched them writhing together she'd seen the sad look of detachment on Emily's face.

Emily seemed uncomfortable, like it was painful...physically and mentally. Isaac was so caught up in himself that he didn't notice that Emily wasn't enjoying it. Boys were like that. Nick was like that. They were so busy concentrating on not blowing their load that they couldn't be in the moment. It's why she liked leading her encounters with Nick. She got to control what happened. He didn't get to let go until she said so.

Watching Emily dissociate from it had confused her. It had also made her body flush with a heat she'd never felt before. She was certain it was anger. Because her brother was so incredibly stupid. And Emily was a liar. They were both sinners. Yet, something made her care. Something made her sympathize. Emily wasn't comfortable. Emily was in pain. And it made her feel satisfied and sad at the same time.

Their actions felt like disrespect...a slap in the face. After they had finished she'd paced around her room and obsessively watched the clip. It made her irrationally angry that they were in his bedroom together...bathing in their sins. A wild energy had been flowing through her body. She'd paced the floor, muttering to herself and continuously watching the grainy footage.

It was only after she'd watched it nearly a dozen times that she realized she'd been focused on Emily the entire time. Something about the girl made Courtney feel like she was being dragged underneath the surface. She hated it.

The brunette was a parasite, attaching herself to her brain, latching on and refusing to leave. She had planted herself firmly in Courtney's head. Ever since she'd stepped foot in Courtney's life everything was going wrong.

It had driven her to do immoral things. It had driven her to crawl into her bed and weep as she watched the video over and over again. She had ripped her clothes off because they felt heavy. She felt exposed and it was driving her crazy. The sheets felt like fire against her skin. She felt like she could feel every fiber. Every speck of lint. When her fingertips touched her flesh she could feel the heat radiating off of it. It made her skin crawl.

When she closed her eyes she could still see the two of them. But instead of Isaac, she saw herself with Emily. Her fingers became Emily's fingers. Her body was Emily's body. She was screaming at her to stop, but she also wanted more. She hovered over the brunette, watching the smug look on her face. Emily knew what she was doing to her. In enraged her.

As her fingers worked furiously, a surge of energy raced through her body and she lost sight of everything. All she could see was the dark look of satisfaction in Emily's eyes. So she decided to snuff the darkness out. Emily didn't get to feel good about herself. She didn't get to gloat. She needed to be taught a lesson. So she'd wrapped her hands around her neck and squeezed.

There was a gratifying satisfaction she got from seeing Emily's eyes pop open and her face turning bright red as she struggled to breathe. She watched the light dimming in her deep brown eyes, three words repeating in her head:

You're an abomination. You're an abomination. You're an abomination. You're an abomination.

She'd reached for a letter opener underneath the mattress. She'd leaned forward, close enough to hear her struggle for breath. Then she'd jabbed the letter opener into Emily's jugular vein. She felt a pulsing rush as the brunette's blood sprayed her in the face. It rejuvenated her.

But when she'd blinked it was all gone. And she was alone in her room. Naked and sweating and crying. And she knew...she knew that Emily and Isaac were still in the room next to hers. And all she had was a stupid fucking video.

But now...she had her. She had Emily in her clutches. It was real. She could feel it. And it was different.

It was so different.

Her senses were heightened. She could taste her. She could smell her. She was glorious beneath her touch.

She could feel Emily's heart beating against her rib cage as she pushed her body against Emily's. She pressed into their kiss harder, crushing her against the wall. She felt Emily grunt against her lips as her back hit the wall, and the vibration of her groan reverberated in Courtney's throat. The throbbing sensation she felt in her own chest as she slipped her tongue into Emily's mouth seemed to clutch at her entire body.

A part of her brain was loudly screaming at her to tear her fingernails into Emily's flesh until she screamed...to rip her clothes off and let their raw unadulterated passion consume her, while another part whispered softly to gently hold the brunette and cherish her and to quietly let the heat between them simmer as their bodies moved together.

She didn't know which part of herself to listen to anymore. Emily had ruined her. It was all her fault.

She'd always known that Emily was different, but she had never been able to figure out why it bothered her so much. Now her head was full of loud noise that she couldn't shut out.

She'd always believed, as Dylan Thomas said, "I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman in me" and that her opposing mental forces was just the nature of her spirit. But it was tearing her apart. And it made her want to do the same to Emily.

Warm droplets streamed down her face. Emily could taste her tears. She could feel her sobbing as she desperately held on to the kiss. But she didn't understand why.

Courtney knew she wouldn't understand. She didn't understand either. But she didn't care. All she knew was that she felt alive when she had Emily in her grasp. And she wanted her. She wanted to have every part of her. Emily belonged to her.

Strange sensations flooded Courtney's mind. Things she'd never dealt with before. She felt angry and sad and conflicted about something she didn't understand. And it infuriated her.

She was fucked up. Emily was fucked up. They didn't belong in the world. Not like this. They were damaged. God had sent them into the world broken.

You have forsaken me.

She growled angrily under her breath. She wanted the noise to stop. So she pushed it all on Emily. She let it out as she cradled her face and moved her lips against Emily's so hard that they would assuredly be bruised in the morning.

Fuck God.

She felt her stomach clenching as she gave in. She started panting into Emily's mouth, the sobs overtaking her as she clung to Emily's body. The impulsive desire pushed her to do this. It wasn't her. It wasn't her fault. It was Emily. She was the rotten apple destroying Eden.

Fuck Emily.

She had spent years pushing Emily away, playing with her like a toy. But now that she was actually leaving something felt torn inside of her. She felt betrayed. And hurt. And she wanted it to stop. Emily did things to her and she wanted it to stop. Yet, at the same time she didn't want it to stop.

Cognitive Dissonance. She'd told Emily after her break up with Isaac. Fuck cognitive dissonance.

She rubbed her pelvis against Emily's thigh, sucking in a breath and letting out a cry. She didn't realize she'd stopped breathing. She'd been drawing so much oxygen from Emily that she didn't even know her lungs weren't working. But she let out a moan and felt them explode, stars bursting behind her eyes.

Things changed in an instant. She ripped her lips away from Emily's. Her chest was heaving. But it was wrong. They were wrong. She frantically wiped away the wetness on her face and let her forehead fall against Emily's as she tried to keep herself from hyperventilating. She felt lightheaded, like she might pass out.

She was shaking, trembling. But she didn't know if it was anger or fear. When she came to her senses she realized Emily was shaking, too.

"I…have to go." Emily felt a quiet sense of panic seizing her chest.

It felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room, and she couldn't breathe. She felt like she was being held in a vice grip. She was trapped, like every other time Courtney had sucked the life out of her.

"You feel it, too, right?" Courtney pressed her body against Emily's again, mistaking the brunette's shaky terrified breaths for excitement. "You need me." She pecked Emily's lips again. "No one knows you like I know you. No one understands us. We're broken, you and me…"

"I'm not broken." Emily shook her head, trying to reach a part of Courtney she knew didn't exist. "You're not…" She paused, trying to keep her composure. "There is nothing wrong with feeling things…"

"You did this." Courtney cut her off, refusing to hear what she had to say, "And now you just want to run away and leave me here. But you need to fix it. You belong here." She looked at her, the look of an apex predator in her eyes. "You can't go. We need each other…"

Emily laughed out loud at how ridiculous she sounded. There was a thin line between her cynicism and complete terror. They were alone in her house. And Courtney was dangerous. She was blaming her, again. The girl was spiraling. Emily could see it. She needed to get away.

"We…NEED each other?" She almost choked on her words. "You think I NEEDED you to make my life a living hell?"

Courtney didn't argue. She leaned forward again. Emily flinched, thinking that she was going to try and kiss her again. Instead, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath through her nose, letting the smell of Emily's musk arouse her senses. Courtney could only imagine what she must taste like.

"You destroyed me." Emily hissed through her teeth.

Courtney nuzzled against her, slipping her hand underneath Emily's shirt. Her cold fingers felt like tiny snakes crawling against her stomach.

"I'm sorry." The blonde's breath was hot and smelled like vanilla coffee creamer.

"You're sorry?" The words sounded almost comical. Emily scoffed. She pulled back, shoving Courtney's hand away from her stomach…away from her child. "I don't forgive you."

She expected Courtney to lash out at her, so she readied herself for the incoming storm. Instead, the blonde looked at her, tears in her eyes. Emily couldn't tell anymore if it was an act.

"I forgave you." Her bottom lip trembled.

"I have never done ANYTHING to you that you didn't instigate first."

"Because you needed to see!" Courtney raised her voice. "You needed to see who you really are. I made you stronger. Braver. Look at you…" She played with the purple stripe in Emily's hair. "You're taking risks. You're stepping out of the box."

"I'm doing all of this for ME. Not for you." Emily pushed against Courtney's shoulder again.

But the more she pushed against the blonde, the harder Courtney pushed back. Her resistance seemed to make Courtney want her more.

There was a strange flicker in her eyes. She stared blankly at Emily as she fought back a sob.

"We were made in the devil's image." Courtney whispered.

Emily blinked in disbelief. She wanted to run. She wanted to get the hell away from her. Courtney was going to be the death of her. She just knew it.

"You really believe that, don't you?" Her shock and disgust gave way to a brief second of sympathy. "Courtney, you can't…you can't hate yourself for how you feel about girls…"

"Stop it." Courtney growled. "You don't know. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Hey, it's okay…" She reached out to touch Courtney's arm.

"Shut up." She yanked her arm away.

"I understand. It's okay. I understand…"

"No. No!" Courtney slammed her eyes shut like she could force it away with sheer will. Tears spilled out. She grabbed her temples like she was in pain and uttered something under her breath.

Make. It. Stop.

Her eyes fluttered open and she locked in on Emily. Without warning, she surged forward and attacked her lips again. It was less delicate this time. She was grasping Emily's cheek so hard that her fingernails were digging little crescent shaped dents into her face. Emily let out a shocked cry.

"Stop…" Emily breathed hard against Courtney's embrace, trying to pull away. "You can't just…"

Courtney shut her up by shoving her tongue in Emily's mouth and pressing her lips so tightly against Emily's that she couldn't speak. She dug her fingernails deeper into Emily's cheek.

Her other hand hovered between them, her fingertips grazing the waistband of Emily's jeans. She wanted them off. She wanted to feel the slick heat and moisture she knew was beneath them. She wanted to bury herself in Emily and stay there forever.

"Take off your pants." Courtney bit Emily's lip, moving her hand towards the button on Emily's jeans.

"I said no!" Emily ripped her lips away and shoved Courtney backwards.

Courtney had never understood boundaries, and Emily was convinced she never would.

Courtney let out a needy frantic cry as she desperately reached for the button and zipper on Emily's jeans again, popping the button and ripping the zipper down. Emily crossed one arm in front of her unzipped jeans and tried to push Courtney away with her other. Courtney's adrenaline gave her a surge of strength. She yanked Emily's hand away and tried to get into her pants, her fingers dipping down into them.

It's mine. She's mine.

Emily slapped her hands away, which pushed Courtney over the edge. The brunette always made her mad. Courtney glared at her.

You made me do this. It's your fault.

She rammed her shoulder against Emily and pushed her back against the wall again, forcing their lips together. She had to get back what they had a few minutes ago. She had to make Emily see that this was how it was supposed to be.

She grasped Emily's wrists and pushed them against the wall, holding her down as their lips clashed. She knew Emily wanted her. She'd known since their first kiss in the locker room.

Emily managed to pull one of her wrists free. She'd been caught off-guard by Courtney's freakishly strong hold on her, but she recovered quickly. She pushed back, freeing herself from Courtney's grasp.

"Why are you fighting this so hard?" Courtney's anger gave way to a sad frustration. "We could be a family. We could…we could run away and be a family."

"You're delusional." Emily darted away from her, stumbling as she buttoned her jeans back up. "You're right about one thing though. I'm running away…with my family. And you're not part of it. You never were. You never will be. And the fact that you don't see that what you're doing is wrong makes me pity you. You're a sad excuse for a human being, and I hope I never see you again."

She huffed, moving her arm up to her lips. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, trying to get the taste of Courtney out of her mouth.

"Have a nice life." She turned her back on the blonde and paced towards the door.

Courtney scrambled after her.

"Emily, wait!" Courtney cried, reaching out to grab her wrist. Emily spun around angrily, ready to knock her the fuck out. But then she saw how pitiful the girl looked. "I don't want to lose you, too."

"You never had me." Emily tried to pull her hand away, but Courtney tightened her grip. "Just because your boyfriend is moving across the country and your family hates you doesn't mean you can just go out and collect a new family. You can't MAKE people love you. Nick and Isaac are lucky if they manage to get away from you. Now let me go."

Courtney blinked absentmindedly. She flinched like Emily had struck her across the face. She slowly let go of Emily's hand.

"I'm sorry. I'll do better. Please. I…" All the venom had drained from her face. She reached up like she was about to clutch her chest, but then dropped her hand and started to cry. "I love you."

The words shocked Emily so much that she thought she might drop to the floor. The fact that Courtney had the audacity to stand in her bedroom and claim something like that after the years or torture and abuse, after she'd tried to sexually assault her again

She looked around her hollowed out room and thought of all the beautiful memories of love she had with Maya.

Courtney didn't love. She possessed. The girl didn't know how to love.

She faced the blonde, her lips in a tight line. She spoke calmly and evenly.

"The thing about love, Courtney…it isn't supposed to hurt."

Love and trauma did not go hand-in-hand, and that's something that Courtney could never understand. Trauma had a gravity of force that pulled people into a path of destruction. Love was freeing.

Courtney tortured everyone in public. But for Emily, her punishment had always been in private. It had skewed Emily's mind, making her think that she'd gotten off easy when it came to Courtney's wrath. But the truth was…she'd quietly destroyed her in the shadows. A piece of her mind would always belong to her. But that didn't mean she had to let it control her. Courtney couldn't control her anymore.

She was free. For the first time in a long time.

She'd left her trauma behind as she walked away from Courtney for the last time. She hadn't looked back as she bolted out her front door and raced towards her bike. She'd sped away, leaving her past in the dust.

o ~ O ~ o

The darkness of the night shifted into the glowing fluorescent lights at Rosewood High School. She'd been blocking the memory out since she had gotten to Rosewood. She'd promised to leave Texas behind for good. She had wanted so badly to leave all of it behind. Rosewood was supposed to be her fresh start.

She blinked several times and saw a hand moving in front of her face. The late bell rang, jolting her back into reality.

"Hello?" Hanna snapped her fingers. "Earth to Emily Fields. Are you coming to class or not?"

"Huh?" Emily shook her head and rubbed her temple. The memory was like a rippling image beneath murky water. "Sorry. Baby brain."

Hanna's eyes narrowed as she scanned Emily's face. She pursed her lips and called her bluff.

"Liar." She had a crinkle in her forehead as she peered at her friend in concern. "Is it the trial or the twins' stupid stunt?"

"Neither." Emily shrugged, shutting her locker. She motioned for Hanna to follow her towards the bathroom. "Why aren't you in class?"

"We were worried when you didn't show. I asked for a hall pass to get a tampon from my locker. Teachers don't question the uterus." Hanna smiled, proud of her excuse. "We didn't want you to be late…" Hanna pushed the bathroom door open, "…though I guess that's a moot point now."

"I can pull a little sympathy from Mrs. Horowitz and get away with being a few minutes late." Emily pushed a stall door open. "Give me a minute. Baby bladder."

"Take your time." Hanna turned towards the mirror, taking the opportunity to check her make-up.

After Emily was finished she walked out of the stall. She glanced at the other stalls and checked each one individually to see if any of them were locked. She was satisfied when she saw that the bathroom was empty, because she knew Hanna was going to ask questions.

She walked to the sink to wash her hands. Hanna watched her curiously. Emily could tell she was dying to know what was going on. Emily grabbed a paper towel.

"Go ahead." Emily gave her permission.

"Thought you weren't supposed to talk about the trial."

"You're not going to ask about the trial," Emily said.

"All I want to know is if he was the bitch sending you the threats." Hanna had a very calm look on her face, but Emily could tell that she had the same burning fire beneath the surface that Alison had. "Tell me that you guys got him."

Emily knew answering was tricky. She didn't want to lie to her, but she didn't want to put her in danger again. She knew that the best lie was rooted in the truth, so she answered carefully.

"He was definitely a part of it." Emily nodded.

"What an asshole." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Did you find anything in New York? Caleb said something about his dad owning the car that he's been sneaking around in. Was that what the DNA stuff was all about? He was looking for his dad for a payout of some kind?"

"We didn't find out anything about his dad in New York."

"Hmm. Weird." Hanna's lips twisted in thought. "Maybe Caleb can do a deep dive. We could…"

"I told you I want you two to stay out of it." Emily shook her head.

"But if he's locked up it's not as dangerous, right?" Hanna cocked her head in confusion. "We can help you. Mona was right. We're stronger together. We've got your back."

"We?" Emily questioned. "You didn't tell the others, did you?"

"Of course not. I'd never betray your confidence." Hanna reached out and touched Emily's arm, her movement copied by her reflection in the mirror. "It's just that…" She looked at her stomach. "Your kid is going to be here soon. And we want you all to be safe."

Emily smiled at her friend. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve such good friends, but she was glad she had them. She had been surprised to be reintegrated so easily when she got back to town. All of her old friends still loved her. She didn't realize what an impact she'd made on them when they were kids. They were a very loyal bunch, and she was appreciative.

"It's all under control." It was the first straight up lie she'd told Hanna, and she could see the side of her lip twitch in her reflection.

She hoped Hanna hadn't seen it. The girl was like a human lie detector. It was a trick she'd learned from her mother. She'd be great out in combat at getting the captured enemies to talk. She had a way about her. She was as good as truth serum.

"We should get to class." Emily tried to dodge Hanna's truth detector. "I'm falling a little behind." She glanced at the door, angling her body towards the exit.

Hanna followed her without having to be prompted.

"Spence has got you covered. She still does tutoring…in between heading up the prom committee with Mona."

"They're heading up the committee?" She paused at the door.

"As far as I know. They even roped Toby and Mike into helping. Mike is working on a pre-prom party with Sabrina and Caleb at The Brew."

"Yeah, I saw one of her flyers this morning. Seems like it's going to be fun."

"Parts of it will be. Other parts not so much. Toby apparently told Spencer that Ezra is doing some big open mic thing with his slam poetry." She stuck her tongue out like she'd tasted something nasty. "I would rather slowly be killed by a steam roller." She chuckled. "College has made him so emo. He was so easy-going when he was a senior here. He always made sure us lowly sophomores were doing well. Now he pouts about how hard it is after you graduate and writes poems about bills and shit, which is ironic since he's a trust fund baby."

They walked out into the hallway, narrowly missing the person in the hoodie scrambling around the corner and ducking into the supply closet. They walked by the closet and disappeared down the hallway.

After Emily and Hanna walked into their classroom, the closet door crept open and the person who had been spying on them quietly slunk out of school.

Emily tried to focus in class, but she was too distracted by Alison's heightened emotions. They'd cleared the air a little bit that morning, but she was clearly having trouble dealing with all the pressure that was mounting. Emily wanted to do something to make her feel normal. The blonde was special to her.

After the bell rang most students rushed out of the room to get to their next class. Emily was packing up her things when she noticed that Spencer was lagging behind. She had several points to make about some of the equations they'd gone over in class.

"By this point you'd think that Horowitz would just sit down and let her teach the class." Mona grabbed her bag with a laugh.

"You coming, Em?" Aria slipped her math book in her book bag.

"I've got to ask Spencer something. I'll catch up with you later."

Emily waved goodbye to the girls and started packing her things up. When Spencer was done talking to Mrs. Horowitz, the older Trig teacher walked into the hallway to monitor for shenanigans, leaving them in the empty classroom.

"Hey, what are you still doing here?" Spencer asked as she walked past Emily.

"I needed to talk to you."

"Is this the kind of talk that requires you to give me a retainer fee of one dollar in exchange for counsel so it's legally binding?" Spencer zipped up her bag.

"No." Emily laughed, pushing herself to her feet. "Your mom has got that covered. She's awesome by the way. What she's doing for me is really nice."

"My mom always liked you." Spencer smiled.

Emily thought about how Veronica had told her that Spencer used to talk about her all the time. She didn't realize she'd made that much of an impression.

Since she'd been back she hadn't spent as much time with Spencer as she had with the other girls. Spencer was a very busy girl, so most of the time they just saw one another in passing or when she was hanging out with Toby.

"I'm surprised she even remembers me."

"You were a memorable kid." Spencer shrugged. "You helped me come out of my shell when I was younger. I was an insanely anxiety-ridden child. You got me to lighten up a lot. You were so laid back."

"Got it from my dad." Her father had taught her how to embrace life. If it had been up to her mother she never would have taken any risks when she was younger.

"How is he doing?" Spencer questioned.

"Better." Emily cringed, thinking about the picture of his pill bottle she'd gotten in her father's hospital room. "He and Alison were singing Lady Gaga together in the car this morning."

"A sentence I never thought I'd hear." Spencer started walking towards the door.

Emily followed her.

"Hey, you and Mona are spearheading the prom committee, right?"

"Yeah." Spencer nodded.

"I want to ask Alison, but I'm going to need permission to do what I want to do. I don't exactly have pull with the principal right now, but coming from you I think he might consider it. Think you could help me out?"

"Yeah, of course. Whatever you need. What did you have in mind?"

Emily had thought about whether or not she wanted to make it a public spectacle. It wasn't really her thing, but she knew that Alison would enjoy being the center of attention. Plus it might take the heat off of her pregnancy.

"Think you could get me clearance to ride my bike through the hallway to the cafeteria and out into the courtyard?" Emily asked hopefully.

"Oh, I have to hear this idea…"

"I have it all planned out. We could line the floor with something to keep the wheels from scuffing it. And the exhaust wouldn't be a problem, because I won't be inside the building long. I plan on riding in with two flags on the back. "Let's take a ride on the wild side" and "Want to joyride to Prom with me?" and ask her in the cafeteria. Then I'd drive us out to a picnic set up out in the courtyard."

"That's the most Emily Fields thing I've ever heard." Spencer grinned in approval. "And yeah, I think I can make that work."

"Thanks. You're the best." Emily smiled.

"I didn't take you for a prom kind of girl."

"It's not my scene, but Alison loves it. And I love her." Emily shifted her book bag on her shoulder. "So, are you going with Toby?"

Spencer's cheeks flushed with color and a dopey grin formed on her face.

"He asked me this past weekend. He was nervous. It was really cute." She tugged on her sleeve. She looked like a little kid talking about her crush on the playground.

"How are things going with you two?"

"He's a really great guy."

Emily loved that they were happy. She loved that she didn't have to worry about one of them intentionally hurting the other, like Courtney would gladly do to Nick. She didn't toss and turn and wonder if her friends had some secret agenda like the blonde she-devil. She was so much better off in Rosewood.

Emily and Spencer parted ways and Emily rushed to her next class. She saw several eyes on her as she trudged through the hallway. She made it without breaking a sweat. She had managed to stay in great shape throughout her pregnancy. She knew that she was lucky. Not every pregnancy was as smooth as hers. She'd certainly had some setbacks. Emotional mood swings. Physical discomfort. Swelling in her hands and feet. Back aches. But she knew that the end would justify the means.

She didn't pay attention to the judgmental looks she continued to get throughout the day. She ignored the whispers and the snarky comments.

She was too focused on other things to care. She checked her phone throughout the day, but she didn't hear a word about Wilden's betrayal. It made her feel paranoid. Maybe it was part of a ploy. Maybe Wilden was trying to trap her in some way.

She had her face buried in her phone as she walked out of her last class of the day, Alison's hand in hers.

"Anything?" Alison asked.

"Radio silence." Emily frowned, putting the phone away.

They walked down the hallway, glancing at all the flyers plastered all over the walls. Most of them were about prom.

There was a lag in Alison's step. Emily could tell she was longing to go, but she was holding back her feelings about it. Emily had a feeling it was because Alison didn't want her to overexert herself.

Alison was always grumbling about the fact that she was continuing to train with Jake. She didn't like her being on her feet for long periods of time because she knew her ankles would start to swell and hurt.

"You want to go?" Emily stopped walking and turned to face one of the flyers, trying to hide her smile.

She already had her plan set in motion. She wasn't going to let her girl miss something as monumental as prom.

"I don't know." Alison turned towards the flyer, pretending to give it a once-over. "Our track record with dances doesn't have the night ending well for us."

"Yeah, but one half of the torture committee is behind bars now." Emily reached out to touch the flyer, smoothing over one of the edges.

At the mention of Wilden's name, Alison turned to face her girlfriend with a peculiar look in her eyes. The man had damaged her in ways that would take years to work through, and Emily hated him for it.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and a chainsaw will fall on his head and he won't be a problem for us anymore." Emily stroked Alison's arm.

"The idea of a hit-man has crossed my mind." Alison admitted. "A giant chainsaw to the head would be fitting."

"The plus side to this dance is there will be no large garden variety weapons." Emily playfully bumped into Alison. "Come it, it'll be a night we'll never forget."

"We've had plenty of those." Alison shrugged. "Why are they having it so early this year?" She turned away and reached for a brochure on the table next to the display. "April isn't exactly the prime month for proms. We've got finals and registration deadlines and a bunch of other bullshit they pile on us."

"I think it had something to do with the venue." Emily looked over her shoulder at the brochure. She reached to take it away from Alison. "It was the only time it was available or something."

"Lame." Alison scoffed.

"Why are you so anti-prom all of a sudden?" Emily questioned.

"I'm not. It just seems stupid to spend a bunch of money on a high school dance."

"Is that what this is about? The money? Because I can splurge for a couple of tickets. Anything for you." She wrapped her arms around Alison's waist, pushing her belly against Alison's back. She kissed her cheek, eliciting a smile from her. Alison turned around in her arms and Emily poked her nose. "You love being the center of attention. You love to dance."

She waved the brochure in front of the blonde's face.

Alison snatched it, unamused.

"It's probably going to be boring. And it's going to be a long night. We'd be on our feet for hours…" Her eyes shot down to Emily's stomach.

"I still work long days and I do just fine." Emily assured her.

"I just…I worry." Alison curled into her frame, wrapping her arms around her.

"I know. But trust me, this kid likes to dance. On my spleen. On my bladder. On any organ she can find. She's constantly twerking in there."

Alison snorted out a laugh at the image of a baby pulling some dirty dancing moves.

"Come on, Alison…it could be fun."

"You don't do tradition. You don't conform to society or do dances." Alison reminded her.

"For this one I'll make an exception." Emily pushed the brochure into the side pocket on her backpack. "Just think about it. You're probably already in the running for Prom Queen."

"How? I gave up my powers to become a normal person at the beginning of the year when I met you." She suddenly realized she was coming off as a bitch. She sweetly added, "Something I'm grateful for every day."

"You're Alison DiLaurentis. You're in the running." Emily laughed.

"Then you're in the running with me." Alison insisted.

"You're picking me as your running mate?" Emily dramatically slapped her hand across her chest. "I am so honored. This could be the beginning of a beautiful partnership."

"You are such a dork." Alison rolled her eyes with a laugh.

"I'm totally wearing a bunch of biker gear." Emily grinned.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Alison tilted her chin up with a smile. She perched herself on her toes to plant a kiss on Emily's lips.

"So…that's a yes?"

"Maybe." Alison played coy. "We'll see."

Emily tried to hide her smirk. Alison wouldn't be able to say no when Emily rode up to her on her bike in the middle of the cafeteria.

A group of girls walked by them and over towards the prom table. One of the girls uttered something about maternity prom dresses. Another girl motioned to a flyer of Emily's pregnant belly that they'd just put up.

Alison was ready to lunge at them, but Emily had another idea. She strutted over to the flyer. The girls watched, grinning, waiting on her to get angry and tear it down. Instead, she posed next to it and told Alison to take her picture.

She stuck her belly out with her hand underneath the pouch sticking out.

Afterwards she walked by the girls with a smirk.

"I'm going to caption it 'when your baby has a more memorable prom night than the sad lonely bitches at Rosewood High'. This kid is already more popular than you could ever hope to be."

She didn't even bother looking back as she walked over and reached for Alison's hand. She walked away with her head held high.

o ~ O ~ o

Over the next three days Emily basically flipped the bird at anyone who said anything derogatory about her baby. She shoved one guy against the lockers, but didn't fight him because she didn't want to get in trouble, and she didn't want to her put her daughter at risk.

Alison dared people to say something. The Queen Bee was back, and most of the student body was afraid to cross her. Every so often someone would mutter something judgmental. One of the girls on the cheerleading squad mocked her by touting around a fake baby from the Home Economics classroom.

Alison didn't retaliate in front of Emily, but she secretly slipped into the locker room and replaced the bitch's hair gel with liquid hair remover and bright green hair dye. During practice the girl's whitish blonde locks started to take on a nauseating green hue as chunks of hair started shedding from her skull.

Alison did the same thing to one of the boys on the Lacrosse team. Mike had assisted after he heard some nasty locker room talk.

Alison kept her composure until the end of the week. What finally made her blow her top was walking to Emily's locker with her after their last class to find that someone had written SLUT across her locker door in big red letters.

Emily just rolled her eyes and spun the lock to open it and grab her books, but Alison was stewing in her anger. She whipped her head over to look at the group of students watching. Ben was holding up a phone recording her while the guys he was with snickered loudly.

Noel approached them with a curious look on his face. He let his gym bag slip off of his shoulder and on to the floor. He shot a disapproving look at Ben and the rest of the guys.

"Come on, dude, don't you have anything better to do? Leave her alone."

"You kidding? This is golden. I'm gonna be famous." Ben grinned.

"I hope you're planning on giving me royalties from that little movie you're making." Emily didn't even bother to look towards the camera.

Their laughter was the last straw for Alison.

"Which one of you useless bag of dicks did this?" she snapped.

"Ali, let it go." Emily shut the locker door. She knew people were going to talk. She didn't care anymore.

"Emily, you don't have to take this." Alison's eyes flashed in ire.

"It will blow over. They'll find someone new to gossip about next week." She reached for Alison's hand. "Don't feed the trolls."

Emily met Ben's gaze as they walked by the boys. She deliberately lifted her hand in a calculating manner curling her fingers into her palm one by one and squeezing her hand as if she had something round in her palm, serving as a reminder of the day that she'd bested him in the gym locker room. She wanted him to remember that she could easily whip him in a fight. She gave him a cunning smile, taunting him.

"I bet you don't even know who the baby-daddy is," Ben grumbled in a snarky tone. "Probably just got drunk like a whore and slept with the whole town and now that you got all the men out of the way you're trying to fuck your way through the women, too."

Alison stopped dead in her tracks, her heels spinning on the floor as she whipped around to face him.

"What the fuck did you say to her?" Alison glared.

She was primed and ready to attack, but in a surprising turn of events Noel came to Emily's defense before Alison could. Alison raised her palm to strike Ben in the face, but Noel pushed his way in between them.

"What the hell is wrong with you, man?" Noel shoved him, knocking his phone out of his hand.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" Ben shoved him back.

Their shoes scuffed against the floor as they pushed one another around, knocking into the other students until Noel finally spun him around and slammed him against the lockers. He didn't hit him. Instead, he lifted his foot and brought it crashing down on his phone, shattering it.

"What the fuck, Kahn!?" Ben shrieked, falling on to the ground to retrieve the remnants of his phone.

"Hope you had your camera insured, Hollywood." Noel reached for his gym bag. He glared at his team. "Clean this shit up." He motioned towards Emily's locker.

There were a few murmurs from the rest of the boys, but they scattered to gather cleaning supplies. Ben stormed away in an angry huff. Noel gripped his bag and glanced at Emily, giving her a slight nod as he turned to walk away.

Alison and Emily looked at one another in surprise.

"That was…" Alison couldn't find the words for it. "Why did he do that?"

"I don't know." Emily shifted on her feet and adjusted her backpack. "Penance?"

"Maybe he's dying or something." Alison's face tightened as she scrutinized the empty hallway where Noel had just been standing.

"Maybe." Emily shrugged. "Or maybe he's just less of a dick when Wilden isn't looming over him."

"Have you heard anything else about the trial?" Alison curled in on herself, bringing her arms up in front of her chest and wrapping them around her front. "Tanner is a Pit Bull that won't let go, but she's not the greatest when it comes to keeping me in the loop."

"I haven't heard anything from Mrs. Hastings either. I assume that when something happens we'll know."

Alison rubbed her bare arms and then dropped them down by her side again. Emily could tell that she was uncomfortable.

"Have you heard from you know who?" Alison questioned.

"Not a peep since I sent the text after the trial." Emily shook her head.

"Maybe Wilden's arrest scared his partner enough to send them packing."

"Maybe." Though Emily didn't think that was the case. It didn't explain how the police had gotten their hands on the evidence of his crimes. "Come on. Let's get out of here. I've got some leftovers calling our name at my place."

"House or apartment?" Alison reached in her pocket to retrieve her car keys.

Emily had been splitting her time between both places. Sometimes she stayed at her parents' house, just to be close to her dad. Other times she liked the serenity of her apartment. Her neighbors were quiet and considerate, which was like hitting the jackpot in shared living spaces.

"Maybe I should start calling the apartment our place." Emily smiled as she wrapped her arm around Alison and pulled her close.

It was nice to have a private place where it was just the two of them, though Emily didn't know how permanent the place was going to be. Their future was up in the air.

"I mean, I do already have a toothbrush there." Alison laid her head against Emily's shoulder.

"Next up…toothpaste!" Emily teased.

"Or…maybe my wardrobe?" Alison poked her in the ribs.

"Would that wardrobe include prom attire?" Emily questioned.

She was planning to formally ask Alison the following Monday at lunch. She had everything set up with Spencer and the girls.

Alison had been more amenable about prom now that she'd had some time to think it over. She smiled when Emily mentioned prom dresses.

They talked about it on the way to Emily's apartment. Alison thought Emily's enthusiasm about the dance was cute, and she appreciated that Emily wanted her to enjoy the last few weeks of high school.

It was crazy that the school year was almost over. It had gone by so quickly. It felt like no time had passed since the weekend before school started…when she met the girl of her dreams. Everything before that was murky. She didn't remember, or rather she didn't want to remember her life before Emily.

She felt like the luckiest girl on the planet. Every moment with her girl was precious. And every moment with the baby was going to change her for the better. It was going to change everything for all three of them.

Later that evening when they were lying in Emily's bed looking through prom pamphlets and reading through facts about NYU Emily's eyes were on the brochures in her hands, while Alison's eyes were on Emily.

There was something about the way she looked when she was deep in concentration that made her so captivating. She looked so serious with her brows knitted together and her mouth in a tight line. Her face was aglow from the sunset painting the sky orange and yellow outside. It gave her the appearance of an angel. Alison had heard the cliché that pregnancy made people glow, but she could actually see it in Emily. She couldn't take her eyes off of her.

"What?" Emily lowered the pamphlet she was holding when she noticed Alison staring.

"Nothing. I just like looking at you." Alison said with a smile as she skimmed her fingers down Emily's arm.

"Well, there is a lot of me to look at, so take it in." Emily leaned back against the pillows and clasped her arms behind her head, inviting Alison to get closer to her body.

"You cocky little shit." Alison chuckled, booping the tip of Emily's nose with her index finger.

She took the brunette's invite without hesitation as she moved up against her body. She nuzzled against Emily, her cheek brushing against her clavicle. Emily lowered her arm, wrapping it around Alison to pull her closer. Emily lowered her other arm and draped it over her protruding belly.

Alison stared at Emily's hand, watching as it twitched as the baby moved below her palm. Emily gently rubbed circles until her daughter settled against her hand. Alison smiled. She'd seen Emily become more subconsciously maternal throughout her pregnancy, and she found it incredibly sexy. The fact that Emily was catching hell from their peers really pissed her off. If they could only see Emily the way she saw her...if they could only see how much love she had to offer...how much she loved her baby...

"Does all the teasing really not bother you?" Alison reached for Emily's hand.

"The fact that we have someone trying to actively kill us bothers me. High school drama is meaningless." Emily gripped the tips of Alison's fingers and started playing with them. "If this pregnancy has taught me anything it's about the importance of perspective."

Alison looked down at their joined hands over Emily's stomach.

"What do you think she'll be like?" Alison asked.

Emily took a thoughtful breath. She'd dreamed about her daughter for months, and the picture in her mind was starting to become clearer.

"I think she'll always be on the go." Emily moved her palm over the backs of Alison's knuckles, pressing Alison's palm against her stomach. "She's so active. I can't imagine that she'll ever let a minute of life go by without exploring. I think she'll be smart and sweet and probably very stubborn like her mother."

"All great qualities." Alison smiled.

"I hope she's eager to learn. And I really hope she gets Isaac's kindness and his sensitivity." She faced Alison. "And your tenacity and persistence. And your courage."

Alison blushed. She loved that Emily had included her.

"I hope she gets your sense of adventure and your fearlessness." Alison massaged her stomach.

"I don't know about the fearlessness. It's gotten me in some pretty tight spots before." But she never regretted any of it. It always gave her a story to tell. "I want her to be open to adventures and to taking chances." She peered at Alison. "Taking chances is how I ended up with the love of my life."

The remark made Alison feel a rush of heat running up her neck and into her cheeks. Her face flushed as her lips twitched into a bashful smile.

"She's going to be beautiful. I bet she'll look just like you. A little clone."

"I think a lot about what she might inherit from Isaac's side of the family. It used to bother me."

She shuddered thinking about what Courtney was like as a child. She'd heard horror stories from Isaac. Emily didn't want to end up with a mini-version of his sister. It terrified her to think that she might end up with a little mini-Courtney, but she had to believe that nurture and love would make her child soft and kind, like Isaac.

"It doesn't bother me anymore though. I'm curious, because even though his sister and his parents are terrible, his grandparents are wonderful. His grandmother used to tell all these wild stories about their youth. And his grandfather always commanded the attention of the room with his big smile. Isaac loves them. They met as kids in the 60s when it was illegal for interracial couples to get married in some parts of the country. They watched the civil rights movement unfold. They saw the case of Richard and Mildred Loving explode all over the national news. Did you ever learn about that?"

"I don't think so." Alison shook her head.

"They were an interracial couple in Virginia, where it was illegal for them to get married. They went to DC, where it was legal, and got married. But when they were back in Virginia the police busted in their door and dragged them out of the house and arrested them because they were sharing a bed."

"That's so fucked up." Alison's forehead scrunched up into a scowl. "Why is it that people want to control who other people love? I hate it. It's like…you'd think as a society we would have evolved by now. Love doesn't hurt anyone."

"They sued the state and won, so there's that. It was a huge step towards equal protection for interracial couples. Isaac's grandparents saw it all firsthand. And they don't take what they have for granted. They're really good people. And Isaac is a great person, too. I'm not entirely sure why Isaac's father turned out the way he did, and I'm also not sure why Courtney turned out the way she did either. I think genes can only account for so much. And I know this baby is going to be so loved that she'll never take anything for granted."

"She'll be amazing. Because you're amazing." Alison wrapped her arms around Emily's body. Her skin was like a warm sandy beach.

"I just want her to know that she can be whoever she wants to be. Love whoever she wants to love. And do whatever she wants to do." Emily reached over to thread her fingers through Alison's hair.

"You know, if I had a mother half as conscientious as you maybe I wouldn't have been such a rotten child. Really makes me wonder about the nurture versus nature debate."

"I think about that all the time. There are so many outliers. Courtney and Isaac were raised by the same people, but they couldn't be more different." She fidgeted with her fingers. "He's the kindest guy I have ever known. When he was little he had a bunch of cute dorky stuffed animals. Courtney was probably practicing killing real animals. And I can't say it's because of her upbringing. Because Isaac was brought up the same way. And he's not perfect, but he has humanity in him. But Courtney…she's just…cold." She couldn't think of any other way to describe her.

She felt her body tensing up when she thought about the last night in her house. Courtney had really believed that her actions were okay. She'd seen her unhinged before, but never like that.

"I'll never understand her." Emily had a pensive expression on her face. "There were times when she…" She paused, hesitating, "…she wasn't…" She sighed, thinking about the torn look she'd seen on Courtney's face the last time she'd seen her, "She would do things…she would kiss me and pretend it meant something. But then, it's like she shut down. And she lashed out. I don't know if she knew what she was doing."

"Don't make excuses for her." Alison frowned. She knew how much Courtney's actions had affected Emily.

"I'm not. Believe me. She was a terrible person. But she was also scared and confused. She hated herself. And she took it out on me." Emily glanced at Alison. "She's not in her right mind, and I get that."

"It doesn't make what she did to you okay."

"I know." Emily smiled at Alison in appreciation. Her support meant the world to her.

"She's no different than Wilden. She belongs behind bars." Alison huffed.

"She belongs somewhere where she can get help." Emily countered.

"How can you still feel that way?" Alison was ready to rip the girl to shreds. How could Emily still have enough compassion in her heart to spare the bitch who had tortured her? "What if we find out she's the one who has been working with Wilden? That she's the one who wants to hurt you and the baby?"

"It's complicated."

"Why? Because she's a girl?"

"Because she's Isaac's sister." Emily gave Alison a soft look. It helped tamp down Alison's anger. "I know you don't understand. I...I don't entirely understand either. Isaac knows she's fucked up, Ali. We both do. But the thing about family is that even if you don't owe them shit and you know you don't owe them shit, you still feel like you owe them. We don't know if she's involved or not. If we find out that she is then we'll deal with it. I'll be the first one to file a police report. I'll also be the first one to make sure she gets mental help. But until we know anything for sure it's not my place to meddle in Isaac's life. Not anymore. I'm already complicating things for him. He's on the outs with his parents. He's cutting his sister out. He's changing everything in his life. He wants this baby to be safe."

"Have you two decided on what his role is going to be?" Alison timidly questioned.

She knew it was something that Emily had been struggling with. She had been struggling with it, too. She had mixed feelings about Emily and Isaac. She kept her face buried against Emily's body, trying to shield her watery eyes.

Emily had told her more than once that nothing was going to change. She had assured her that Isaac knew how important she was to her and the baby. But Alison still couldn't help but feel out of place, which drudged up some of her more possessive qualities. She didn't like to share, especially when it came to Emily and the baby.

"I think he wants to be there for her, but he doesn't know if there is a place in her life for him. I told him there was if he wanted to be."

Alison clenched her teeth and tried not to think about what it would look like if Isaac moved in next to them and was around all the time. She knew it was his right to know his baby, but she couldn't picture what co-parenting would look like. She was still coming to terms with the idea.

"He still doesn't know. And I told him that's okay. I know he's under a lot of pressure. He asks about her, but it's almost like he's asking because he thinks it's what he's supposed to do. He says he's struggling to feel connected, which I totally get. I think he's overwhelmed. I don't know how much of it is the distance and the commitment and how much of it is because of his family."

"I don't want those psychos anywhere near her." Alison clenched her jaw.

Isaac was one thing. He was a decent guy. But if his family tried to get anywhere near the baby she wouldn't be afraid to fight dirty.

"He doesn't either," Emily said. "He doesn't trust them."

"Have you asked him about the place in Buffalo yet?"

"I didn't know how to bring it up without him asking me a million questions. He's already on edge because Courtney threatened to tell everyone about the baby. And if his parents find out we've been talking…" She huffed out a sigh. "Then again I'm getting to a point where I don't give a shit if they find out, even if they got petty and tried to pull something with custody. It's not like they can just rip her from my arms. I would fight them until my dying breath."

"They'd have to go through me, too." Alison had a determined expression on her face. "Them and Courtney both. She'll never get her murderous little hands on this baby."

"You know what's weird? Courtney is eerily good with babies. She loves Nick's baby cousin."

"What kind of crazy person would let her anywhere near a baby?" Alison frowned.

Emily remembered having the exact same thought when she saw Courtney playing with Nick's cousin the day she'd been packing boxes with her family. But she'd seen a side of Courtney she'd never seen before. She'd been making goofy faces at him and cooing and acting normal.

"The world is a strange place." Emily shifted against the pillows, arching her back to counter-attack a cramp that was blooming in her back. Alison sat up, worried that maybe her weight was making her feel uncomfortable, but Emily pulled her into her embrace again. She wanted her close. "I know this is really hard for you. There is a lot happening…with Isaac and his family, and I know it's not easy for you. But I want you to know that you are the most important person in my child's life. I don't know if I've told you this, but you've been my rock throughout this whole thing."

Alison's jealousy dissipated. The warm inviting look in Emily's eyes was all she needed to see to make her feel better.

"Says the girl who punched a teacher to protect my honor." Alison raised her hand towards Emily's cheek, using her index finger to swipe away a wild stray hair in her face.

"You took a blade to the side for me from that same psycho." Emily reached out and gently touched her side.

The gash had healed, but she had a scar from it. It made Emily angry when she looked at it. She hated Wilden.

"I'd do it all over again." Alison put her hand on top of Emily's.

She had turned into a protective Mama Bear that night. It had been about more than just Emily. It had been about the baby. Nothing would ever happen to Emily's daughter while Alison was around. She'd make sure of it.

Emily's phone buzzed from her nightstand. She looked over, twisting away from Alison to reach for it. Alison assumed it was Isaac. He checked in around the same time every night.

"Tell Isaac I said hi." Alison stretched out, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'm going to get a snack. You want something?"

"Yeah." Emily picked up the phone. "I've been craving…"

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the message. It wasn't from Isaac.

She hadn't seen the unknown number since she sent the message about Wilden. The response sent chills down her spine.

Snitches get stitches, but rats get silenced forever.

There was a screenshot of a news story attached to the message. Emily shot up when she saw the headline.

"Holy shit." She gasped.

"What?" Alison eagerly crawled back on to the bed on her knees, hovering over Emily.

Before Emily could tell Alison anything her phone buzzed again. She saw Veronica Hasting's name pop up and answered it immediately.

"Mrs. Hastings?" The look on her face was a mixture of shock and intrigue.

She scooted to the edge of the bed and pressed the phone close to her ear as she listened closely. She didn't say much. She replied mostly in non-verbal cues, occasionally muttering a 'yes' or an 'okay'. Alison watched her facial expressions. She couldn't make out what Mrs. Hastings was saying.

The phone call only lasted for three minutes. When Emily hung up her face was frozen in confusion. She stared, unblinking, totally stunned.

"What is it?" Alison leaned towards her in anticipation, her eyes wide. "What did she say?"

"She was trying to get in touch with me before the story broke…" Emily slowly lowered her phone. She glanced at the screen again, staring at the message. She lifted her head and met Alison's eager eyes with her own.

"Em, what's going on?"

Emily looked at the headline again. She wasn't sure it was real. But it had to be real. Spencer's mother confirmed it.

She tilted her head and blinked several times, like if she batted her eyes hard enough it would all become clear…like it would all make sense. She gripped her phone tightly. Then she very calmly faced Alison.

"Wilden is dead."


A/N: Ding dong, the snitch is dead? Who would be capable of doing such a thing? Did one of the girls follow through on the threat? Who was following them in the hallway? Why does it feel like Emily has been pregnant for 84 years? And what the hell is Noel Kahn's deal?

Cat is out of the bag about almost everything now.

Trying my best to integrate Emily's past and present. The characterization of Courtney and Emily's friction in the past and the relationship between Alison and Emily in the present is a duality that is important to see in totality.