A/N: I'm more delayed than the USPS. *crickets* It's a funny joke in the states (but not funny that the United States Postal Service is holding our mail hostage. Especially in Georgia. It's not like we have an important Senate election runoff with mail-in ballots that can determine the fate of the entire United States right now... *cries in Georgian*).

Thanks for the patience. Sorry it took so long. I have a lot happening.


Chapter 36:

Absolute Pressure

Emily's fever broke overnight. When she woke up the next morning she felt much better. Alison was still curled up in the chair, sound asleep. Someone had gotten a blanket and put it over her. Emily took a moment to admire the peaceful look on her face.

The early morning light was beaming through the room. She rubbed her eyes. She'd been under the fluorescent lights for so long that the sunlight was making her see spots. She glanced at the room in the light of day. It was smaller than it had seemed last night.

It had been a rough night. She shuddered. The fever was gone. But the chill from her nightmare remained. The image of Courtney in the flashy red dress and matching coat was burned into her memory.

Alison's prom dress was hanging up on a rack underneath the TV on the wall, right where she'd left it. It didn't look like it had been touched.

She heard footsteps approaching. She almost lurched out of bed. She expected Courtney to be around every corner.

Her dad appeared in the doorway. He was clutching a cup of coffee, blowing on the steam coming from the top. He yawned and then took a sip as he stepped forward.

He quietly walked over to her bed without saying a word. He leaned over her and kissed her forehead.

"Morning, baby," he said quietly.

Emily melted back into the mattress. Her father made her feel safe. His lips had left a warm imprint on her forehead.

"Were you and mom here all night?" Emily questioned.

"They have a waiting area for overnighters. Your Ma is still sleeping. We checked in on you periodically to make sure you were doing okay." He smiled. "I was going to get Alison some breakfast, but I wasn't sure what she liked and I didn't want to wake her."

"She's awake." Alison rolled over. She looked at Emily's dad with a polite expression. "And she likes anything her girlfriend's father gets for her. Eggs. Fruit bowls. Waffles." She sat up and smiled at Emily. "I also have a thing for French Toast. Your daughter has spoiled me."

"Wait until you have one of my world famous omelets." Wayne slowly stirred his coffee. He pulled the stirrer out and popped it in his mouth to keep it from dripping all over the floor. "You haven't had real food until you've had a Wayne Fields four course breakfast buffet."

"You going to bring the entire kitchen to the hospital, dad?" Emily reached for the hand control of the bed so she could raise herself into a sitting position.

"Your mother would skin me alive if I dismantled her kitchen and brought it here." He chuckled. "They should be springing you from the joint today. I'll make us a feast when we get home." He rubbed his knuckles against Emily's cheek. "Your mom and I are going to take care of you two. We'll make sure this little one gets to the home stretch just fine."

"You have your endzone dance ready?" Emily asked.

"There's that trademark Fields Family snark." He laughed softly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired. But I'm ready to go home."

"We're working on that." He squeezed her hand. "Hang in there."

"I'm hanging." Emily squeezed his hand back.

"I'll be back with breakfast in a few." He took another sip of coffee.

He let his hand slip away from Emily's, though Emily could feel him holding on just the slightest bit. He lingered for a few seconds before he walked away.

Alison climbed out of the chair that had been her bed and stretched, raising her arms above her head with a big yawn. Emily watched curiously. The loose fitting clothes hung off of her body, but Emily could still see her curves.

"How the hell do you manage to make sweatpants look sexy?" Emily glanced at her ass.

"It's a gift." Alison shrugged. She sauntered over to Emily's bedside.

Emily had a lot more color in her cheeks. Her eyes were brighter. She still had a slick glow to her skin, but she looked better. Emily moved over as far as she could and Alison squeezed on to the edge of the bed.

"You doing okay?" Alison brushed her fingers through Emily's hair, tucking a strand of it behind her ear.

"Better than last night." Emily reached up to touch Alison's cheek. She caressed her face. It felt so good to feel her skin. "How are you feeling?"

She knew that Alison had been through hell, too. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her to get the call that she was in the hospital.

"I'm fine." Alison nervously played with the strings on her gift shop sweatpants. "I can't believe I slept all night. I tried to stay awake. I wanted to be awake in case you woke up. Did you sleep okay?"

Emily's brow tensed. She plucked away a piece of medical tape that had somehow gotten stuck to her elbow.

"Not really." She tucked her hands underneath her baby bump, holding it protectively. "I had weird nightmares." Her mouth suddenly felt dry. She reached for her water. She took a sip. "And hallucinations. I think I might be seeing things. I don't know. Everything that happened is so jumbled up in my head. I can't remember what's real and what's not."

"What exactly is it that you think you saw?" Alison asked.

"Courtney." Her name tasted like acid on Emily's tongue.

"When?"

"At the apartment yesterday." Her throat felt constrained when she thought about being alone and vulnerable. She'd felt Courtney's fingers all over her. It made her feel unclean. That's how Courtney made her feel. Dirty. "And then here again last night. I don't…" She rubbed her eyebrow. "Ali, I don't know what's real anymore. She's fucked with my head so much that I think she's just permanently in there. I think I might be losing my mind."

"Or…" Alison chewed her lip.

Or Emily wasn't crazy. Or it was something worse. There was another possibility. She really was there.

"I don't think you're crazy, Em." She licked her lips. Her face was fixed in an anxious expression. "I think she's trying to hurt us. She's trying to break us."

"None of this makes any sense. I don't understand. If she wanted to hurt me she could have done it twice. I was vulnerable in my apartment. And here, too. If she's really responsible for everything she could have easily slipped in and finished the job. And if she was after you…" It made her feel physically sick to think about Courtney hurting Alison, "…she could have gotten to you easily while we were both out of it. If she's doing this I don't see what her endgame is."

"She's insane. Does the endgame really matter?" Alison questioned. "The girl is delusional."

Emily knew that. She'd known it since the day she met Courtney. She had been naïve to think that she could leave everything in her past behind in Texas.

The day she left town Courtney had accused her of running away. She had tried to convince herself that Courtney wasn't right. She'd dug her heels in and said she was moving because of her dad's relocation. But that was only part of it.

Courtney had gotten to her in a way that she didn't care to admit. She hadn't realized at the time that she was running to get away from things she didn't want to deal with. Her pregnancy. Isaac. Courtney. Her life in Texas. She had always been running from it.

She had told herself that Rosewood was a fresh start. But a fresh start didn't mean disconnecting from the past entirely. It meant learning to cope with it. She knew the sooner she accepted it the sooner she could move forward. As much as she hated it, that meant admitting that they were connected. They always would be.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you." Tense little lines formed in Emily's forehead. "About Courtney. About…everything in Texas."

"What do you mean?"

"Courtney came after me more than once. I know I told you about the locker room, but that wasn't the only time." Emily squirmed in discomfort.

Alison tried to shift her position to let her get better situated. She didn't realize that the discomfort was emotional, not physical. Emily pulled her closer, gripping her hand tighter. Alison got the memo. She scooted up next to her.

"She did more than try to kiss me. She pushed boundaries. She tried to force herself on me several times. And it was always the same. I froze." She pursed her lips in confusion. "I can't stand it when people are harassed, but when it came to myself I let my brain just sweep it under the rug. But I think it's always been there. I went off on Wilden because of what he did to you…and to all those girls. But I also went off on him because I felt helpless about everything that happened to me in Texas."

She'd never said any of it out loud, but she'd been drowning for a long time. She just didn't realize it.

"I always thought that maybe there was something wrong with me…because I didn't know how to stop it." Emily peered at her wrist. She could still feel Courtney's nails digging into her skin.

"Emily…that's not how it works." Alison gently put her hand on Emily's arm. "You taught me that…after what happened with Wilden…"

"I know." Emily gave her a weak smile. "I get that. I'm just working through it. Because there is a lot more to work through than I really grasped at the time. I was so conflicted because I felt bad for Courtney. Because I knew she was sick. I saw what her demons did to her. I just…I never thought her demons would be a part of my life here. But that's what it's become."

"I swear if I ever see her I'm going to rip her face off." Alison's jaw tightened.

"I wouldn't want you to. Even after everything she's done. Believe me, I'm fucking infuriated that she has come after you and my baby. But she belongs in an institution. She needs help." Her eyes softened in sympathy.

"You know, for a biker babe you sure don't get in as many brawls as I thought you would." Alison pulled Emily's hand up to kiss her knuckles. "You have such a good heart. It's one of the reasons I love you so much. That you even care about her after what she's done…"

Alison wouldn't have stood for it. She was ready to mow the girl down with a car. She knew how Emily felt. Courtney had done to Emily what Wilden had done to her. And Alison felt permanently fucked up because of it. She couldn't stand the thought of Emily feeling that way. She wanted Courtney to join Wilden in his eternal hell.

"I think she latched on to me because I was the first person in her life she could relate to who showed her sympathy…and the first person she thought would understand. She just didn't know how to express that. It became an obsession for her. She latched on. And she can't let go. And until she does I don't know how I can let go either. Because she's everywhere." Emily played with her IV line, trying to unkink it. "Last night wasn't the first time I saw her."

"It wasn't?"

"No. Do you remember the night of the Halloween dance?"

"Do I remember the night you saved me from getting flattened by a giant chainsaw?" Alison asked sarcastically. "Yeah, I remember that."

"That night in the hospital I had this nightmare…" She trailed off. "Courtney threatened me. She told me that I didn't deserve my daughter. Then she did something…" Emily put her hand against her stomach. "I had these pains, and suddenly I was bleeding. But when I woke up the baby was fine. I thought it was a nightmare. But it was so vivid. And last night…" She could still feel Courtney's fingers against her. "I feel her when she's around me. I could feel her hands on my body…"

I'll murder her. I'll rip her fucking hair out at the roots… Alison's lips twitched into an angry snarl. Her eyes alternated between hot and cold, whirlwinds of flaming hail. Hot. Cold. Angry. Angrier.

But she didn't say anything. She knew the importance of letting Emily talk. She also knew that her anger was in vain, because Emily had made her point about wanting Courtney to get help.

"She says all this weird shit. I can't remember everything." It was probably a combination of her subconscious trying to protect her and the extreme circumstances she was in when she saw her. "In my apartment…before Hanna found me she kept talking about how we were broken…"

That bitch is so fucking dead.

Alison gripped her hand, encouraging Emily as she spoke.

"…and then in the same breath she was talking about taking care of me. She says things like how we're a family and how she's 'protecting' me. It's like she lives to tear me apart and then piece me back together…like some bloody puzzle or something. I'm like a fucking toy to her."

She sighed. She was exhausted. She was mentally drained.

"I have all the strength in the world. I can knock out jackasses twice my size. I can wipe the floor with boys on almost any court and hold my breath under water longer than anyone I've ever met. I've ridden my bike at 120 miles per hour and nothing about it fazes me. I have always been able to take care of myself and everyone around me. I am not afraid of anything." She clucked her tongue. "But Courtney says two words to me…or touches me…and it's like I lose all sense of myself. It's like she cuts me off at the ankles, and no matter how hard I fight her she always wins."

"Well she's not going to win this time." I will destroy her.

"No, she's not." Emily agreed. She cringed. "I have to talk to Isaac. I have to find out if he knows where his sister is."

"You should tell him just how far she was trying to push you. That would light a fire under his ass."

"I'm not going to out her to him. I can't do that. It doesn't matter what she's done to me. Her sexuality is hers," she replied. "He knows Courtney was a bitch to me. I'm just going to have to lean on that. And I'll use it to find out as much as I can."

Alison laced her fingers into Emily's as a show of support. She didn't ask questions. She didn't offer suggestions. She just let Emily process things. That's what Emily did for her. Emily had let her come to terms with what Ian and Wilden had done to her. She'd learned how to mirror those actions, and what's more…she'd learned how to care.

She'd been a control freak her entire life. Emily was the first person who had taught her how to let go of that control. The day she'd climbed on the back of Emily's bike she had changed.

She had learned to listen. She'd learned how to offer support. And that's exactly what she did when Emily called Isaac a few hours later.

It had taken the brunette a little bit of time to figure out what she was going to say. She had also wanted to wait until it was later in Texas. She didn't want to wake him up at the crack of dawn.

She would soon find out that he'd never gone to bed.

When he picked up the phone he sounded groggy, but he was excited to hear her voice.

At first he thought it was Alison since Emily was calling from her phone. When Emily said hello his voice went from sleepy to ecstatic.

"She lives." He breathed a happy sigh of relief.

"Got more lives than a cat." She felt Alison's hand against her arm and she glanced at her.

The blonde was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning against her. Her legs were propped up against the back of the chair next to the mattress. She had moved the overbed table with the remnants of Emily's breakfast on the tray away from the bed to give herself room.

"How are you? The baby?" Isaac asked anxiously.

"We're both stable. She just has a flair for the dramatic." Her eyes flickered towards Alison again. "The doctor is putting me on bed rest because she can't seem to stay put."

"Sounds like she's ready to meet her mommy." Isaac's voice was light and airy. He was smiling. Emily could tell. "I assume Alison is going to enforce the bed rest since someone I know is stubborn?"

"Yes, Warden DiLaurentis is enforcing the rules." Emily's voice was dry.

"And will punish appropriately," Alison said under her breath with a wicked wink. She caressed Emily's arm.

Emily smacked her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. It felt good to laugh, but it also put pressure against her sensitive abdominal muscles. She reached over and pinched Alison's ass, which nearly caused her to fall off the bed. She was unable to keep her squeal of laughter contained.

"Uh…what's happening there?" Isaac asked.

"The hospital room is causing a little bit of cabin fever." Emily grasped Alison's arm to keep her from falling to the floor.

"It certainly sounds like you're feeling better."

"I am. I definitely am."

"What happened?"

Emily explained everything. She told him that the doctors expected her to completely recover and that the baby was going to be fine.

She felt Alison's fingers threading through hers. Alison knew the hard part of the conversation wasn't over yet. She knew Emily was getting ready to steer the topic to his family.

Emily appreciated the support. There was no easy way to ask her best friend if he thought his sister could be a stalker and a murderer. It was so weird the way they both knew what Courtney was, but they both tiptoed around it.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Em." She heard a light sigh that sounded like the end of a yawn.

Emily glanced at the clock. It was nine o'clock in Texas. She hadn't expected to wake him up.

"You sound as tired as I am." Emily prodded jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe I should have waited until later to call you."

"No. It's fine." There was a rustling noise. The wind.

Emily cocked her head. Was he outside?

She heard a car horn in the distance.

"Where are you?" she questioned curiously.

"Just…walking. Clearing my head." There was something strange in his tone.

"You have a tell when you're lying. I can hear it in your voice." Emily tapped the edge of the mattress with her fingertips. "Is something wrong?"

"No." He paused, taking a thoughtful breath. "Maybe. I um…" Another sigh, "I kind of slept on a park bench last night."

"You what? Why? What happened?" Emily stiffened.

Alison felt the tension in Emily's grip. Her eyes widened in alarm.

"I didn't want to bother you with this…"

"Dude, come on. I just told you about my placenta in full detail. I'm here for whatever you've got going on."

She didn't like the idea of him sleeping on a park bench, especially when there were so many unanswered questions about what was going on.

"Man, I really didn't want to bug you out," he mumbled. "After Alison called me yesterday I sort of lost it. I blew up at my parents. About Courtney. About you…"

"You didn't…" Emily let go of Alison's hand. She reached up and gripped her wrist that was holding the phone, as if pushing the phone closer to her face was going to change things.

"They know I know about the baby."

"What?"

"I know you wanted me to keep it on the downlow, but I thought you were both going to die. I lost my mind. You know me. I don't flip my shit very often. But the thought of you being so far away…so helpless…and me being unable to do anything about it…I just…I snapped. I told them Courtney found out and that she told me, so it shouldn't blow back on you. We got into a huge fight and I bolted. Tried to get in touch with one of my teammates, but he's apparently visiting his family in Austin. So I just wandered until I ended up at the park. I stayed there last night."

Images of Isaac alone and vulnerable flashed through her mind. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him to feel so alone. He'd been unable to trust his parents. His sister didn't care about him. His friends hadn't answered. And he'd been unable to call her.

She took a moment to process everything. Only one thing mattered to her.

"Are you okay?" Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alison looking eagerly at her.

"I think so." But he didn't sound sure. "Feel like I got a lot off of my chest. I didn't mean for it to happen, but I can't take it back now." He let out a shaky breath. "You mad?"

"No." Almost losing her child had given her a new perspective on things. "I never should have asked you to keep it from them in the first place. I shouldn't have let them intimidate me."

"I get why you were scared," he said. "It's so weird to live in this in-between world where we're supposed to be adults, but the adults in our lives are acting like petty teenagers."

Emily let out a sarcastic laugh. But then her tone softened.

"Are you safe?" she asked.

"For now," he said. "I'm not going home. I'm going to stay with some friends for a few weeks…until I finish up senior year. After that I can go wherever I want. I have to get out of here. My parents and my sister are so fucking toxic. I'm thinking about going out to Chicago to stay with my dad's parents for the summer. My grandmother already said I could. She's even got a summer job lined up for me. Then I'll just make the move to Ohio when the fall semester begins."

"You decided on Ohio?" She asked.

There was a pause on the line.

"Damn, I didn't mean to tell you like that." She could hear the shame in his voice, though he didn't have anything to be ashamed of. They had been talking about it for weeks. "I really want this. But at the same time I feel like it's selfish…"

"You should do what you want to do. I've told you a million times there is no pressure."

"I know." His tone was warm. He appreciated that she was so understanding. "But getting that call from Alison about you…it really made me think about things. I don't know where my priorities are, but I know where they should be. It's like…I have two different lives and I can't live them both. I don't like the idea of not being close enough to visit. I don't like the idea of not being there if you guys need something. I want to find a way to come see you, but I don't know how it will play out once the semester starts and practice kicks into high gear. I want to find a way to make it work. I really do. It's been running through my head all night long. And I didn't want to blindside you. I didn't mean to lay all of this out on you, especially with everything that happened last night…"

Last night.

The baby.

Courtney.

She'd gotten so distracted by Isaac's night outside and the revelation about Ohio that she'd completely lost track of why she'd called him in the first place.

Finding out about Courtney was important, but she wanted to make sure he was okay first. The balance had shifted.

"I know what you're going through. I don't know what my future looks like either," she admitted. "It's great that you want to be there for me, but I don't want you to forget I'm here for you, too."

"You just concentrate on getting that little girl here safely. Focus on yourself. I'll be fine." There was a buzzing noise and then a faint beep. "Ah, crap. We might get cut off. I'm almost out of juice. I should have turned my phone off to save power overnight, but I wanted to leave it on in case you or Alison needed to get in touch." His voice sounded distant, like he was pulling the phone away from his ear to look at the screen. After a few seconds it was back to normal. "I've got about 5 percent left, but I'll charge it as soon as I get to work."

"Before you go I need to know something." Emily knew she had to speed things along. "Where is Courtney in all of this drama?"

"She wasn't there last night. She's still with friends. Nick leaving was hard enough on her, but whatever she's got going on with our parents really escalated things. As far as I know she hates mom and dad as much as I do. Maybe even more. And it doesn't help that I was riding her ass about the way she used the pregnancy against me. Last time we saw each other she threatened to gut me with a knife."

Fuck. Emily could picture her doing it. She wouldn't put anything past Courtney.

"She never talks to me anymore. She blocked me on socials and I think she's avoiding me at school. She stopped swimming."

"She stopped swimming?" The girl lived for swimming.

She'd been such a showboat in the pool. She always made sure that everyone knew she was the best. She'd even been so dedicated that she'd come to practice when she was sick with the flu.

Emily wished she hadn't been there that day, because the locker room still haunted her.

"I don't know if I told you, but she lost the anchor position. And she got in trouble for some infighting on the team, so she was on thin ice with the coach. Everything going on at home kind of boiled over there. She's been so erratic this past month. I don't know where she is or what she's doing. I haven't seen her at her local haunts."

It unnerved Emily that no one ever seemed to know where Courtney was hiding. Because that meant she could be hiding in the shadows in Rosewood.

She shuddered.

"Em? You still there? Did I lose you?"

Almost. Many times over.

"I'm here." Emily replied.

"Is there a reason you're asking about her?"

He was constantly giving her openings to talk to him, but she clammed up every time. All she could think about was Maya's hand, frozen in time with drug paraphernalia. And the memories she had of her father in his hospital bed. The texts threatening everyone she loved.

"It just freaks me out knowing that she knows about the baby, especially since she's in the wind somewhere. We have a…sordid history. If she's threatening you with violence I don't even want to begin to imagine what she'll do to me…"

Or what she had already done to her. What she planned to do to her.

"I made it perfectly clear to her that if she ever interferes in our lives again I'll unleash Holy Hell on her. If she ever touches you or the baby I'll destroy her."

It was admirable that he wanted to protect them, but if Courtney was behind everything that was happening to her there was no way he'd be able to stop her.

"More than likely if she gets pissed at anyone it's going to be me. I'm the one who just blew up what was left of our family," he said.

"How far do you think she'd be willing to go to get back at us?"

There was a quiet pause. Isaac's response was soft,

"I won't let anything happen to you guys. I promise."

Emily knew it was a promise he wasn't going to be able to keep. Because he didn't know everything. He didn't know what his sister was doing. Courtney couldn't be controlled.

"We got this." He was hopeful. His positive nature is something she loved about him. He'd always been a dreamer. Since the day she'd caught him recreating The Princess and the Frog in real life she'd known that he had unwavering optimism. She wanted her daughter to inherit that. She wanted her to see the good in the world. "You're one of the strongest women I know. And you've got Alison by your side and me in your corner. We can handle our business."

"True." Emily chuckled. Her kid already had a line of protectors ready to do anything for her. "But there's more to it than that. I feel like in the true spirit of teamwork you should probably know all of the plays…" She heard the other end of the line crackling and then an air of silence. "Isaac?"

All of the background noise had faded. She pulled the phone away from her ear to see if the call was still connected. She heard him cut back in mid-sentence.

"…can't hear…my phone…dying." There was another crackle and then, "…Emily?" and then total silence again.

Alison's phone beeped at her. The call had disconnected. Emily lowered the phone.

"Well?" Alison asked.

"His phone died." She held Alison's phone out to her. "His family knows that he found out about the pregnancy."

"Well, this day keeps getting better and better." She uttered sarcastically. "Are his parents going to come after you now, too?"

"I don't know. I think they've got their hands full with their own kids. Isaac apparently slept on a park bench last night."

"Why?"

"Because he told his parents to fuck off and then left home."

Good for him. Alison thought in approval. There had been times she wanted to run away from her family, too.

"And Courtney?"

"He doesn't know where she is." Emily shoved a pillow behind her back, trying to get comfortable. "His family is in shambles right now."

"Could one of those shambles be here in Rosewood?"

"I…"

Emily's hospital door creaked open. Alison leaped off the edge of the bed and grabbed the metal covering to Emily's food tray. She held it up, ready to use it as a weapon. Emily knew she was trying to protect her, but it was so ridiculous that it was cute.

They both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw a curly headed woman in scrubs backing into the room wheeling a cart. Alison put the tray cover down and exchanged a look with the brunette.

The woman wiggled the cart through the doorway and turned around.

"Hey, sweetie." She walked over to Emily, searching for her ID bracelet. "Your doctor ordered an ultrasound to make sure everything looks good before your discharge."

She scanned the barcode on Emily's bracelet with a little black scanner. Then she wheeled the cart over to Emily's bed. She flipped open a large bulky laptop and reached for the gel sitting in a little pocket on the side.

She had Emily roll down her blanket and pull her gown up. She spread the gel on her stomach. The second the probe touched her skin Emily felt the baby springing to life. It's almost like she'd felt the chill and was exclaiming, "That's cold!"

Alison craned her neck trying to see the ultrasound images. The ultrasonographer smiled and accommodated her by flipping the screen towards them with her free hand. Her other hand rolled the probe over Emily's round belly.

"Looks like I woke her up," the ultrasongrapher chuckled.

"How is everything?" Emily focused in on the screen.

Every so often she caught a glimpse of her daughter's fingers or her nose. She was moving a lot. It was a great sign. It made Emily and Alison feel much better about everything.

"No excess bleeding." She gently slid the probe around. "Baby looks happy and healthy. And she has excellent dance moves."

Emily reached for Alison's hand as they watched the little girl on the screen. They had learned to appreciate the precious moments. They had also unfortunately come to expect something to come in and ruin the happy times.

Life didn't disappoint.

Alison's phone chimed just as the ultrasound was being finished up. She glanced at her screen. Alison's mouth twisted into a concerned frown. When she looked up her eyes were fraught with anticipation.

She subtly slipped Emily her phone. The message from the anonymous number made her stomach sink.

If you clue baby-daddy in I'll take him out. Don't test me.

The most disturbing thing wasn't the message itself, but the fact that it was sent to Alison's phone. Who could have possibly figured out that they were talking to Isaac? Caleb had put software on Alison's phone that pretty much created a firewall so no one could hack it.

There were only two explanations that Emily could think of. Someone had hacked Isaac's phone. Or…someone was listening.

"Everything looks great." The cheery woman in scrubs drew Emily's attention away from the phone. "The inflammation in your placenta should go down with the medications and the bed rest. And your little one is just fine. She looks very comfortable in there. Safe from the big bad world." She laughed.

Emily and Alison didn't laugh. She was too close to the truth for comfort. They knew that as long as there was someone out there who wanted to hurt them the baby would never be safe from the big bad world.

o ~ O ~ o

Three weeks into her bed rest Emily was starting to get restless. She had honored her mother's request to come home, mostly because going back into her apartment had triggered horrible memories of what had happened on prom night.

She felt strange going back to pick up some of her things. While she was in the hospital her mother had cleaned the place from top to bottom. The smell of the bleach was overwhelming, but Emily knew she had to use it to get the blood stains out. She was grateful her mother had done it. She didn't want Alison to see it. She felt like the blonde had been traumatized enough.

She'd searched for her necklace, but she couldn't find it. Her mom didn't seem to know anything about it. Emily stared at the open hole in the sink, wondering if it had been knocked down the drain. She also worried about it being something more nefarious. Her worry only intensified when Alison told her she couldn't find her bracelet either.

Alison confronted Noel at school. She hadn't been subtle in the confrontation at all. She'd burst into the boy's locker room when he was alone. She threw her math book at his head to get his attention. He'd been in nothing but a towel. The math book hit him so hard that she saw water droplets from his wet hair dribble to the floor.

Noel had gotten pissed at first, but when he spun around and saw that it was her he'd immediately changed his tune.

Instead of yelling at her the first thing he did was ask how Emily was doing.

"She's fine, no thanks to you." Alison had backed him against his locker, her teeth bared angrily.

When she looked at Noel she saw the very reason that Wilden had nearly killed her in New York. He was complicit.

"Listen, I'm sure Emily told you…"

She'd lifted her hand and smacked him hard across the cheek, so much so that it had left a stinging sensation in her palm. Her hit had left a large red welt against his jaw. Her fingernails had torn into his skin.

"If you don't tell me everything you know I am going to slam your dick in a locker so hard that it falls off."

He'd recounted everything he'd told Emily. He promised Alison he didn't know anything more. He'd explained that his future was on the line. He said he'd had no choice.

It wasn't enough for Alison.

She was beyond pissed off at him. She'd forced him towards the exit and snatched his towel before shoving him through it, forcing him out into the hallway nude. He'd had to snatch a garbage bag and use it to cover himself.

When he got sent to the principal for indecent exposure he'd lied and told him it was his idea of a senior prank. He didn't dare piss off Alison anymore.

Emily chided her for going up against Noel by herself, though she was thoroughly impressed with her actions.

Things settled after a few days.

The texts had stopped. Everything had stopped. The last message they got was the one warning them to keep Isaac out of it.

It was hard for Emily to shut him out, but she did…for his own protection. She was very careful to keep their conversations directed towards the baby and nothing else.

Things changed for her in a very dramatic way. Her parents hovered, which she expected. Alison jumped every time Emily moved, fussing over her and nagging her. Emily side-eyed her a lot, but she let her do her thing.

The doctor had cleared her to keep working part time, as long as she was on desk duty. Going to school was out of the question because of the amount of walking in between classes and the structure of the hard desk set ups.

She was able to virtually attend her classes. The girls helped by keeping her up on what was going on. The teachers arranged for her to take her exams from home with a proctor.

Alison was miserable without her. She called her every day at lunch. She spent a lot of time texting her. She was worried Emily would go into labor while she wasn't around to help.

At work, the boys were diligent about making sure she stayed behind the front desk answering phones and doing work on the client database. She was thankful just to be able to get out of the house, so she didn't give them shit for pampering her.

The last leg of the pregnancy was turning out to be the hardest part. Her back constantly hurt. She could never get comfortable. She had to pee all the time. She couldn't sleep at night. The baby kicked her incessantly. It was tough, but Emily was tougher. She powered through it.

She did her best to pay attention in her virtual classes. It wasn't always easy to stay focused. A little jab in her side or the sudden urge of needing to pee were not easy distractions to ignore.

Half the time when she was supposed to be listening to class lectures she was staring at her stomach, watching her child's alien-like movements. And the rest of the time she was glued to her replacement phone, which her father had gotten for her after they realized that part of her old phone had literally been flushed away, down the toilet.

A message from Alison popped up.

School is torture without you. I hate it here.

Alison's snarky texts were the highlight of her day. She smiled.

Two more weeks. Just keep your eyes on the prize.

YOU'RE my prize. She followed it with a string of emojis with heart-eyes. How is my favorite girl?

Bloated. Swollen feet. Swollen face. Swollen everything. Ya'know, sexy. She jazzed the message up with a winking-face emoji.

Ohhh. Send newds. Followed by a peach emoji.

Emily chuckled. She pulled her shirt up and put her fingers against her stomach. She snapped a picture and sent it to her.

Alison's response was just a bunch of random letters and a sweating emoji next to a fire.

SKDHGESKFLNSLK. You tease! Gaaaah, dying here!

Wtf was that? Did you just have a stroke?

About to. This class is killing me. I need cute baby antics to get me thru.

She kicked my spleen about five minutes ago.

Awwww, adorable. Tell me more. I feel like I'm missing everything.

You saw me 3 hours ago when you came by for breakfast…

3 loooong hours ago.

You shouldn't be texting in class.

What are they going to do? Withhold my diploma? They want me out of here just as much as I want to get out of here. Now I demand more baby content.

You love her more than me. She added a grinning emoji.

I love you both more than anything. So, what other milestones has she reached? Is she rolling over yet?

Milestones? Emily snorted out a laugh. What, you expect she's just walked out of my vagina and is graduating medical school now?

EMILY VIOLET FIELDS! DO NOT TOY WITH MY HEART! Our little girl…a DOCTOR?!

Ali, pay attention in class.

I shall. But alas, my heart will be with you, my love.

You're so fucking weird. I love you, too.

She put her phone away and opened an assignment from her Trig teacher. As she worked through the math problems she thought about how fast the school year had gone.

Her senior year hadn't gone anything like she was anticipating it would. She had known it was going to be a ride. She just didn't know how crazy it was going to be.

After she finished her math she started scrolling through her phone again. She went to the image gallery. All of her images had been saved in the cloud, so when she went into her account on the replacement phone it downloaded everything.

Most of the photos were of nature. And sunsets. She loved sunsets. She had dozens of pictures of Alison. She was a natural beauty. Emily liked capturing her in all different kinds of light. She had some candid, like her peering at the kissing rock in thought. She had several of her in front of the piano, her eyes narrow in concentration as her fingers struck the keys.

She swiped through photos of Alison at the park, Alison at school, Alison in her bedroom. She even had one of Alison propped up on her bike. She'd taken it one day after school. Alison had been waiting on her to take her home that day.

She had tons of selfies of them. She also had a cute little photoshoot of the two of them on her bike. Toby had taken the pictures after they'd gone on a ride through the city.

There were quite a few pictures of Alison nuzzling up to her belly. She had a soft look of adoration in her eyes that Emily wanted her daughter to see one day. There were pictures of Alison's cheek against her stomach, listening for her movements. There were pictures of her fondly kissing and talking to the baby. Emily had even snapped a picture one night after Alison fell asleep singing to her. She had video of the soft lullaby, too.

Emily flipped through the ultrasound images she had of her child. From the very first blur that looked like a blob to the most recent where every one of her little features were distinguishable. It pulled at her heartstrings. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes.

Her child.

Her baby.

Her daughter.

She was going to meet her in just a few short weeks.

She reached down and touched her stomach. When she felt her kick nothing else in the world mattered. Her baby girl had her heart. It made everything worth it. The nausea. The pain. The complete and utter fear. Everything.

She continued to root through her pictures. She had a few of Isaac. She found herself curiously looking at him and trying to imagine what their daughter would inherit from him.

She kept scrolling. She came across a picture of Courtney. It made her feel physically ill. She deleted it immediately.

She found a few pictures of her bike when it was just a mere pile of scrap metal. Her mom had taken some snapshots of Emily working on the bike with her dad.

She scanned through pictures she'd taken back in San Antonio. She laughed when she came across one of Nick in his biker attire. He looked like a badass, all decked out in his leather and his sleek black helmet and combat boots.

The attire wasn't the funny part of the photo. The funny part of the photo was the fact that he was running away from a large goose that was honking angrily at him.

It had been the day she'd gone to get her tattoo. They'd stopped at a lake after watching a duck and her ducklings cross the road. They'd gone out to look at the birds. That's when the goose had come flying out of nowhere. It had scared the shit out of him. Emily had ended up on the ground laughing her ass off. Nick had ended up in a tree throwing pinecones at the angry thing, calling it "a fuckin' demon bird."

After the series of "Nick versus the demon bird" she came across some old pictures of her bike in different stages of restoration.

She missed going on long rides. She was looking forward to being able to get back out on the road after the baby was born.

Her bike had been her first baby. Her dad had helped her nurture it. She'd learned a lot piecing together the hump of scrap metal. She wondered if parenting would be the same. Only instead of installing an inline-four cylinder engine she would be instilling wisdom and kindness that would live on forever.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. Isaac's number appeared on the screen. She always clenched up when he called, mainly because she felt like she was back to lying to him again. Though technically she wasn't lying to him. She was withholding the truth from him about his sister. Or at least, what she thought was the truth.

"What's up, Cowboy?" she answered.

"How's it hanging, Amishville?" he retorted.

"Good." Emily laughed. "I'm taking a break from school work."

"Ironic. I'm on my way to school."

"How is the weather there?"

She wasn't talking about the actual weather, and he knew it.

She was asking about the tempers in his household.

"Still a little on the hot side. I'm still at my friend's place. My mom has called a few times. They want me to come home." The tone in his voice suggested he would not be doing that. "How did the appointment go?"

"Good." Emily propped herself up on a wall of pillows that Alison had created before leaving for school. She put the phone down and put him on speaker. "She's moving and slowly getting into position. She's not quite there yet, but the doctors are confident she's going to turn."

"And the placenta thing?"

"They're keeping an eye on it. The delivery could be a higher risk than normal. There could be some complications and excess bleeding, but they're watching it very carefully. They said since I'm so young the complications are pretty minimal."

She reached for a tub of cocoa butter beside her bed. She had been going through it like crazy to help her skin from cracking and drying. She was hoping it would help with stretchmarks.

"You been feeling okay?" His breathing pattern picked up. He was hustling to get to school.

"Much better since I finished the antibiotics." She popped the top off of the cocoa butter and globbed it on to her fingers before splaying it out against her stomach.

"Nurse Alison being strict?"

Emily stifled a laugh. If by "strict" he meant not letting her do any of the work when they were in bed together she was downright authoritarian.

"I follow her orders." She tried to keep from bursting into laughter.

"Did she tell you I snapped at her the night you went to the hospital?"

Emily tilted her head in intrigue. She hadn't heard anything about their conversation that night.

"No."

It was surprising, because at the very start of their relationship Alison would have done anything to paint him in a negative light. She had not been his biggest fan.

"She was probably more worried about you than she was focused on me being an asshole. It was our first official fight, I think." He tried to make light of it.

"Second if you count showing up on Valentine's Day."

"God, I still can't believe I did that." She could hear him cringing. "That was such a dick move. I was so convinced that a grand gesture would woo you…"

"Still saying woo, huh?" She cleaned her fingers off and admired her glowing stomach.

"Woo hoo," he said, less enthusiastically as he used to say it, but she could hear him smiling. "You know what's funny to me is I thought that going back to friends was the weirdest thing we were dealing with. I had no idea we'd be here."

"Funny how things change." Emily glanced out her window. From the angle of her bed she could see the corner of Alison's window.

"Funny how things change us." She heard him suck in a gust of air. "I've been wondering about something…about the baby."

"Yeah?"

"If I chose not to be involved…and I'm not saying I don't want to be…" He quickly added. "But if I did, what would you tell her about me?"

Emily had to think about it. She knew there would be a conversation with her daughter one day. She just assumed she'd have plenty of time to figure out what she was going to say.

"I'd tell her that she was born out of love, and that her dad wanted the best possible life for her. And that he gave her that life by loving her enough to put her in the hands of two incredible mothers…and that he was mindful of what he was giving all three of them."

Isaac exhaled quietly. Emily could tell it meant a lot to him.

"And if I did want to be involved? What then?"

"Then we'd figure it out as we went along."

"It's hard, because I see what you and Alison have, and I don't want to cause waves there."

"Alison and I have talked about it. This is your choice."

"Yeah, and a lot is going in to it. The distance. Your family unit. My family." He grumbled. "I can run, but Courtney and my parents are a part of my life, and I don't want this baby to be a part of theirs."

"I get that." She wanted to disagree with him. She wanted to tell him that they'd figure something out. But she didn't trust his family.

"I've been trying to think of a happy medium. I know that sounds kind of jacked up since there is a kid involved. Like…it should be all or nothing, right? But then I got to thinking…families are nontraditional. And it doesn't always have to mean what we think it means. Like…you remember my buddy Marco? He was two years ahead of us in school."

"Yeah. The Running Back. The one who was scouted by the Texas Longhorn Football Program."

"His best friend lives out there. She's a few years older. She's bi, and she and her wife were looking to start a family. They asked him to donate his...manly stuff. He ended up doing it. When I talked to him he said he really liked the idea of helping two people he cared about start a family."

"Wow." She smiled.

"I'm not saying that's what we've been reduced to. Just a donor or whatever. Because even though it might not have meant the same thing to you…when we were together…when we…did the things that got you pregnant…" He tried to tread lightly. "It wasn't just about sex. I want you to know that."

"I know," Emily replied softly. "And what we had…our friendship…it did mean something. I want you to know that. It's not like I didn't like you."

"I knew it." He feigned a gasp. "It was my devastatingly handsome good looks, wasn't it?"

They both laughed.

"It was your really nerdy jokes."

"Such a twist ending. Never would have thought that Princess Lotte would swoop in and steal Prince Naveen's endgame." He mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." He chuckled. "Just a Princess and the Frog thing. Promise me you'll show it to her when she's old enough."

"I will." Emily nodded. "So…what exactly happened with Marco and his friends?"

"The kid is about six months old now. He loves the little dude. He visits and stuff. He's around. Kind of like an uncle. They have talked about what they're going to tell him when he's old enough. The girls are his parents. Marco is not tied to him because he has to be. It just worked out because he wanted to be in his friends' lives and he wanted the kid to have a cool baller uncle to look up to. He says it works for them. I was thinking…maybe we can find something that works for us."

He waited for Emily's response, but she was quietly processing in thought.

"It…it wouldn't be like…a custody thing or anything. And there's no pressure. I just thought…I'd be cool with getting to know her. Visiting sometimes. Just hanging out. All of us. You're one of my best friends. I want to get to know Alison better, too. I don't know exactly what my schedule is going to look like, but I want to make time for you three. You're pretty much the only family I've got left."

Her thoughts turned to Courtney. Her stomach tensed at the thought of her.

"It would be cool with me if you visited." Emily said.

"Once I get settled out in Chicago with my grandparents I'll be working, and I can send you money for her."

"You don't have to. Just being our friend is good enough. I don't want you to be a bank account. I can't take any more money from you."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't have to do this on your own either, financially at least. And it wouldn't be for you. It would be for her. For like…diapers and clothes. Or just…things she might need. I told you…I want to help. Responsibility is a big deal to me."

It was honorable. It was so very like him.

"Seriously," he said. "If there is anything I can do…"

The one thing she needed him to do was the one thing she couldn't ask him to do: solve the issue with Courtney.

"The only thing I'm focused on right now is getting this little girl here safely." The love she had in her voice was like nothing he'd ever heard before. "All that matters to me is holding her in my arms and knowing that she's safe and happy and healthy."

There was a beat of silence, a moment for Isaac to take in the tone of love she was emitting. Then he softly broke the quiet air.

"You're going to be an incredible mother, Emily."

"I hope so." She smiled, laying her palm across her stomach.

She heard the wind whooshing into the receiver of his phone. She could also hear background noise as he got closer to school.

"Hey, so…I've got to ask you something. And I want complete and total honesty." He slowed his pace.

"That's our policy."

"It's about Courtney," he said carefully. Emily tried not to clam up. "You were asking about her a few weeks ago."

"Yeah…I was just emotional being in the hospital and everything…" She tried to think on her feet.

"You've asked before, too. And I don't think you would have brought it up for no reason." He gave her an opening to respond. When she didn't he quietly continued, "I didn't know back then how bad things were between you two. I didn't know she was doing things to hurt you, too. But I know now. And that changes things. Knowing what I know…straight up, I'm worried. I haven't seen her in two weeks. My parents don't talk to her. And Nick hasn't heard from her either."

Emily's continued silence spoke volumes. He sighed.

"I've asked around at school. One of the girls she hangs out with says she's just avoiding everyone. She insists that Courtney is staying with her. But I think she's covering for her. I don't know why. Maybe Courtney told her some bullshit about what was happening at home. Maybe she thinks she's helping her. But I haven't physically seen her in weeks."

"Oh?" She tried to keep her voice from coming out strained.

He picked up on her tension.

"Emily I need to know…do you think she's a danger to you and the baby? Because if she is I'll do something about it. I don't care what kind of drama it causes between me and my folks. If I have to go against them I will. If she's gone off the rails I'll go to the cops if I have to. I'll tell them she's missing and that I think she's a danger to herself and to others. Let them look into it. I may not be able to do a lot for you right now, but I can do this."

The flashes of Maya's hand after she'd been drugged and her father's blood-drained face after his heart attack were swimming through her head. The threat she got about Isaac's life was pretty specific.

"If you clue baby-daddy in I'll take him out. Don't test me."

She couldn't handle it if he ended up a victim, too.

"I can't fix the past, but I can make sure that she doesn't do anything to you in the future. I just want to protect you," he said.

"I know." Emily slid down against her wall of pillows. "I get that." She swallowed hard. She was so paranoid that she was worried about their call being bugged. How far was the person after her willing to go? "I don't know what to tell you."

"We used to be able to tell each other everything," he said sadly.

"I kind of blew that up with the whole baby thing."

"You realize I don't blame you for that, right? Everything that happened to us just spiraled. It hurt at the time, but I think sometimes we have to have our hearts broken to understand what really matters in life. It sucks, but at the same time we get to put ourselves back together however we want." Sometimes he was wise beyond his years. "We'll find our footing again one day."

"Yo, Isaac!" Someone in the background shouted.

"I've got to go. But I'll check in later."

She heard him addressing his friends before he told her a quiet goodbye.

She felt uneasy after getting off the phone with him. She was concerned about his safety. If he started to pry it could get him killed. Suddenly, she hated that he was thousands of miles away.

Her phone jingled in her hand.

"I'm popular this morning." She laughed to herself.

She wasn't surprised when she saw Alison requesting to video chat with her. It was almost lunch time. They chatted every day at lunch.

Emily accepted the call.

"Hey." Emily winked at her when she saw her beautiful face on the screen.

"Hey, Boo." She smiled.

"Boo?" Emily snickered.

"I was trying it out." Alison shrugged. She leaned into the camera. "How is my favorite little Bean doing?"

"Jumping like crazy." Emily moved the phone down to show Alison her stomach.

She was letting the cocoa butter dry. Every so often there was a little wave of moment.

"Aw, hi Bean!" Alison exclaimed enthusiastically. "You be good for your mama!"

Emily picked the phone back up and aimed the camera at her face. She could see her facial profile in the smaller box on her screen. She looked so bloated.

"How is her mama? What are you up to?" Alison smiled.

"Nothing. Just got off the phone with Isaac."

"How are things in the Giddy-up state?" She tried to do a country accent, but it came off sharp and twangy. It made Emily laugh.

"He's fine," she said.

She rolled her finger over the back of her phone and made a face. She wanted to tell Alison about her conversation with Isaac, but she didn't think it was a good idea with Alison in such a public setting. She'd catch her up on it after school.

"I'll recap everything when I pick you up this afternoon."

Alison's lips curved downwards into a concerned frown,

"As much as I love the Harley…"

"Honda." Emily corrected her.

"Whatever." Alison replied flippantly. "As much as I love the bike I will strangle you if you ride it while you're supposed to be on bed rest."

Alison had been very picky about Emily's activity level after she'd gotten out of the hospital. Emily had to have the doctor explain to her that "bed rest" didn't mean she had to be confined to a bed all day and night until the birth, but that she needed to limit activities.

"I'm borrowing my parent's car. Not exactly a thrilling ride, but it's what we've got. Doc okayed it. Short rides in the boring-mobile are fine." Emily laughed. "What time does your science lab end?"

"4:30."

"Hey, is that Emily?" Emily heard Hanna's voice off-screen. "Did you tell her yet?"

"Tell me what?" Emily asked.

She saw Alison bat Hanna away from the screen. They both laughed.

"I…kind of did something." Alison gritted her teeth, her face scrunching up in guilt.

"Oh no..."

"I want to throw you a baby shower…"

Emily groaned under her breath.

"Ali," she uttered with a warning tone, "I already told you I didn't want to. It's just not my style."

"Okay, but hear me out." Alison raised her hand in a diplomatic fashion. "People would buy you stuff."

That was it. That was her argument.

"I don't want our friends to feel obligated…"

"They want to. Please?" Alison begged. "And you can't say no because I've already planned it."

Emily lowered her head, half laughing, half sighing. Alison knew exactly how to get her way. She reached up and gripped the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger.

"Fine." Emily relented. "But no cheesy games. No 'guessing the candybar melted in a diaper' or silly trivia."

Alison shrieked in excitement.

"Yes!" She exclaimed triumphantly.

"She said yes?" Hanna asked.

"I told you she would cave. Aria, you owe me five bucks." Spencer's voice cut in.

"I'll deduct it from the shopping trip this afternoon." Aria replied.

They immediately launched into their plans.

The noise in the cafeteria slowly started to drown out Alison's conversation with Emily, so she took the call outside.

"The girls got your final Trig assignment and I've got you covered in English. How are you doing as far as keeping up in all your classes goes? Do I need to bribe any teachers? Or intimidate them?" Alison asked.

"You are terrifying sometimes, you know that?" Emily laughed.

"Only to the people I dislike." She reminded her.

"I'm doing fine with the homeschooling. Every so often mom barges in with freshly baked snacks and insists on playing the role of my teacher. I just let her do it. It makes her feel like she's special."

"You're a good daughter." Alison smiled at the screen. Emily's cheeks were glowing. "And an amazing girlfriend. I hope that your mom knows how amazing you are."

"She'd be more receptive if I was doing better in math."

"You're trying. That's all that's important."

"It's a little more important than that. It's my entire high school career. The woman is using batches of apples to teach me trigonometry. It's torture."

"We have ideas that will distract her long enough to give you a break. We want her involved in the baby shower."

"You have free reign to do what you want as long as you keep it small and quiet. I don't want a big production. Not with what we've been dealing with." Emily kept her voice low. "We've got some things to talk about, but I'd rather talk to you when I pick you up."

"You really are a tease…making me wait," Alison said with a frown.

"You like it when I make you wait." Emily winked, a smirk on her face.

"TMI." Mike gagged from somewhere in the background.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Alison spun around in surprise.

"My mom says I'm an angel that fell from Heaven." He grinned, popping up behind Alison. "Hi, Emily."

"Hey, Mike."

"Emily!" Her mother called from downstairs. "Are you ready for me yet?"

"I've got to go. Bushels of apples await me," Emily said with a sarcastic eye roll.

"Love you." Alison smiled sweetly.

"Love you, too. See you at 4:30."

Alison sighed and lowered her phone after the call cut off. She had really missed having Emily at school, but the girls had been a helpful distraction. They'd been planning Emily's baby shower all week.

Aria and Hanna were working on the decorations. Spencer and Mona had been burned out after decorating for the prom.

"Chin up, blondie." He nudged her chin playfully. "We've got a baby shower to plan. I'm thinking...fireworks." He held his palms up and made a grand gesture in the air.

"I will light you on fire. Don't even think about it."

"Challenge accepted."

She reached out to smack him on the shoulder, but he was already out of her reach, sprinting towards the cafeteria.

She chased after him. When she walked back into the school building she narrowly missed the person who had been watching from the glass hallway overlooking the courtyard.

The Rosewood Sharks hoodie was pulled tight, obscuring a face that she might have recognized.

Alison rushed through the lunch crowd to meet up with the girls. The person in the hoodie went in the opposite direction. A phone buzzed from inside the front pocket of the sweatshirt.

The screen showed one unread message.

Where are you?

The tone of it was annoying. Things had escalated since Wilden's death. Things had changed. Emily wasn't as easy to get to anymore, not since she'd gotten home from the hospital. It had complicated everything.

School.

The reply was curt. It was bound to start a fight. Tensions were mounting.

Why don't I believe you?

Instead of answering, a finger curled against the side of the phone and shut the screen off. An angry hand shoved it into the front hoodie pocket.

As Alison ate her lunch with her friends there was a person plotting against her outside in a black sedan. The car was parked strategically in a lot off-campus, so campus security wouldn't come knocking.

The glove compartment popped open. A hand reached in and pulled out a pair of black gloves and a white linen rag. There was a rustling noise and then a newly gloved hand dug out a brown glass bottle. The label had been torn off.

Underneath the bottle there was a brand new car registration. The name C. Maxwell stood out in bold letters on the paper. Underneath it was a letter with a handwritten return address from Darren Wilden.

A pair of eyes landed on the papers. The smooth leather-clad fingertips traced the outline of the envelope. It was weird seeing Darren's handwriting now.

Family was a strange thing. Family you didn't even know you had was even stranger. They had just found each other.

The hefty sum of money their father Elliott had left them was supposed to be split between them, but Darren's legal troubles had posed a challenge. They couldn't access his share of the money without alerting authorities without the illegal accounts being exposed.

It was a moot point now.

The glove compartment was slammed shut so forcefully that the car lurched against the pavement. The glass bottle rolled off of the passenger's seat, but was caught before it fell on to the floorboard. Fortunately it was sealed shut.

Don't get ahead of yourself.

Alison wouldn't be in her science lab for another five hours. There was no use in getting worked up. It was important to stay focused.

Patience.

Though it was hard to be patient. It felt like the moment would never come. It had been months.

It had started out entirely different, but the plan took a hard turn, deviating after Wilden's death.

The gloved hands clutched the steering wheel, leather squeaking against the thick material. The gun underneath the seat felt like it was calling out, begging to be used. If only they weren't at school. If only there were no witnesses. There were only two bullets for two people.

Instead, patience won out.

Hours slowly ticked by, but things were falling into place.

After school let out students trickled out. Alison wasn't with them. Of course Alison wouldn't be with them. She had her science lab. And Emily would be there soon.

After the parking lot started to clear out and the buses disappeared the patient driver reached for the dark glass bottle and the rag. The driver's side door slowly opened.

o ~ O ~ o

Inside the school's science lab only a few students remained. Alison was among them. They finished up their labs independently.

Alison was staring at a beaker with green liquid in it, her brows furrowed in concentration. She adjusted the clear safety goggles on her face and wrote down her findings. She was taking her time with the assignment. She was so focused that she didn't see the last student walk out.

At 4:10, there was a quiet hissing noise that came from the ceiling in the furthest corner of the room. There was a tiny hole with a hose attached to a canister feeding gas into the room.

At 4:15, the teacher got an alert on his phone about his car being towed. The text claimed to be from the towing company, but it was really from a burner phone. The same burner phone that had called for the tow-truck in the first place.

He told Alison he had to step out. Alison was almost done. She said she was right behind him as she was exposing of the corrosive materials.

Two minutes later she was packing up. As she was putting her remaining books in her bag a strange feeling washed over her. The room seemed to be closing in on her.

She gripped the edge of the table, knocking her pen to the floor. As she was bending over to pick it up she was struck by a sudden wave of dizziness. She grasped the table and tried to steady herself.

The lights clicked off. She shot upright and tried to stand, but she was out of breath for some reason. Her lungs didn't seem to want to move.

In a panic, she reached for her phone, pulling up Emily's number. The phone looked too large in her hand. The screen was distorted.

She heard movement, but she couldn't see anything in the dark. The only light in the shadows was the glow emitting from her screen. Her finger was unsteady as she swiped against it.

In science lab. Can't breathe. Something not right…

Her hand went numb. She dropped her phone. It took every ounce of strength she had to stay upright.

She felt a rough pair of arms grasp her from behind. She instinctively opened her mouth to scream, but something covered her face. As she inhaled, something sweet hit her taste buds.

She threw her elbow back, striking her attacker in the ribs. Her hand smacked against a gas mask on the person's face.

She tried to lurch forward to get away, but the chloroform acted fast. She toppled on her feet as her vision started to fade. She hit her head on the table before collapsing against the floor.

She groaned as the masked intruder grabbed her feet and pulled her towards the gas being poured into the room.

"Emily…" she uttered in her unconsciousness.

The name earned her a kick in the stomach, something she didn't feel because of the sedation. But it was enough to knock the wind out of her.

Blood trickled down her forehead from a cut where a knot had formed after she'd hit the table. She moaned, but the sound of the hissing gas canister drowned it out.

The sounds of a desk scraping against the floor filled the quiet air. After the door was barricaded the person in black slipped through a heating grate and disappeared into the school's intricate HVAC system.

Five minutes later Emily was pulling into the parking lot to pick up her girlfriend. She was a few minutes early.

The parking lot was fairly empty except for a large tow truck chaining up an SUV on the far side of the school. Two men were standing next to the tow truck arguing.

Emily sent a text to Alison.

Your Uber awaits. It comes with a free subscription to a hot brunette with very impatient hands.

She waited for a reply, but didn't get one. She waited for a few minutes and then sent another message.

Usually you're the one that comes early. A seductive winky face emoji drove her point home. What gives?

She didn't get a response. She found it strange considering Alison usually answered her right away. She kept her phone on her at all times in case Emily went into labor.

Emily was starting to get concerned.

Everything okay? You finished yet?

Still nothing.

She didn't like the silence. It made her feel uneasy.

She pulled the car closer to the science building and parked.

Alright, I'm coming in after you.

Alison was silent.

Emily shoved her phone in her pocket and quickly made her way inside the building. The hallways were quiet. Everyone was so eager to get out for the summer that no one wanted to stay one minute longer than they were forced to. Most of the teachers were gone, too.

The silence gave Emily goosebumps.

When she got closer to the science lab she smelled something foul. It made her stomach flip. She was sensitive to a lot of smells that made her feel sick, but the odor was by far the most pungent thing she'd smelled during her pregnancy.

She stopped outside the science lab. All the lights were off. The small window in the door had been blocked by the inner blinds. But Emily knew in her gut that the room wasn't empty. She reached for the handle and pushed on the door.

The handle turned, but the door wouldn't open. She had to apply a decent amount of force to push it open. She was careful not to overexert herself.

The desk slid against the floor as the door was shoved open.

The smell of the gas nearly knocked her off of her feet. How had no one else come by and smelled it?

She threw her arm up in front of her face to cover her nose and her mouth. Her eyes darted around the classroom, her gaze stopping when she saw the glow from the unsent text on Alison's phone. A few feet away Alison was slumped in the middle of the floor. There were streaks of blood on her face from the cut on her forehead.

"Oh my God." Emily uttered under her breath. "Alison."

She pushed her arm against her face and held her breath as she surged forward. She tried to lean over and grab Alison's arm to pull her towards the hallway, but she couldn't angle herself properly because of her belly. She carefully sank down to the floor.

Alison's face was grey. Her lips were blue.

"Ali?" She gently jostled her, trying to stir her to life. The blonde was lifeless. "Baby, wake up."

She grasped Alison's cheek. She felt for her pulse. It was faint and fading.

"Help!" She yelled out before covering her mouth again. She tried to control her breaths. "Don't you dare die on me." She ordered before screaming for help again.

The door slammed from behind her. She spun around. She pushed herself up and moved towards the exit. The knob was stuck.

Her instincts took over. It was like being on a plane and knowing it was crashing. She wobbled over to the safety equipment and started tearing through it until she found what she was looking for.

Two non-rebreather masks and a pair of eye goggles. Her eyes were already starting to burn.

She sat down next to Alison, carefully moving her, trying not to jostle her neck too much. She remembered from basic first aid that moving people with head trauma could cause injuries to worsen. She secured the mask over Alison's face, hoping it would be enough to keep her alive.

She put the other mask on herself and then put the goggles over her eyes. Then she reached for her phone to call 911.

"Ali…" Emily huffed, fogging up her face mask. "Hey, just hold on. Hold on for me."

"911…" She heard a faint voice through her phone.

She continued to stroke Alison's cheek as she spoke to the emergency operator. She told the operator they were trapped in the science lab.

Minutes later the principal was kicking in the door to get to them. Several staffers pulled them out as the ambulances and firetrucks filled the parking lot.

Ella Montgomery brought Emily a wheelchair because she could barely stand, but Emily didn't want to get in it until Alison was taken care of.

Emily squeezed Alison's hand and told her she loved her, begging her to wake up.

"Please Ali…" She kissed her forehead. "We need you. The baby and I need you…"

She felt Alison's hand gently squeeze hers back. Alison's lips moved, softly calling out for Emily as her eyes fluttered.

Emily's heart jumped.

"Emily…" Alison cringed when she opened her eyes. Her head was killing her, but when she saw Emily she felt like she could breathe again. "Emily…" Her voice was strained.

"I'm here." Emily moved a matted mess of her bloody hair away from her face.

"It's not safe." She groaned.

"We're safe." Emily quietly assured her. "It's okay. We're safe."

The question was how long they were going to stay safe. Emily knew it wasn't an accident. She knew it even before her phone buzzed from inside her pocket with the angry message,

Choke on that, bitch. Breathe a word of this to anyone and it'll be the last breath you ever take.

The paramedics tried to pry Emily away from Alison, but she refused to leave her. Her hand was wrapped tightly around Alison's. She stayed with the blonde as they moved her from the hallway to the back of the ambulance.

By the time they got outside Alison was sitting up. She was dazed, but she was aware and talking. Emily climbed in the ambulance with her. One of the paramedics checked to make sure she was okay.

Emily sat with Alison while they gave her some supplemental oxygen and cleaned the cut on her head. An ugly purple blemish had formed around it. She'd hit the corner of the table hard.

When someone in a blue uniform asked her a question she was visibly shaken. She pulled the clear oxygen mask away from her face long enough to answer what she was being asked.

"I don't know what happened." It was only a partial lie.

She knew someone had been in the room with her. But she couldn't remember anything after she was grabbed.

The officers had cleared the school. Now they were trying to figure out what had happened. The person in black had cleaned up their mess. It looked like Alison had done something shady in the science lab, which was ridiculous.

"Why were you in the classroom alone?" The officer asked.

Alison didn't want to get her science teacher in trouble. He was the only teacher besides Ella who had never been an asshole to her.

"Were you alone?" He pressed.

Alison flinched when she heard the question. Her hand tightened around Emily's. It stoked a rage in Emily. Because someone had tried to hurt her girl. And she was having none of that shit.

"Can you tell me what you remember?" The officer tried a different approach, trying to jog her memory.

Alison couldn't tell the responding officers the truth. She knew what would happen if she did. It was pitiful that they were at the mercy of someone who had so much control over them. It pissed her off.

"Can you question her later? She needs to rest." Emily's snappy tone came out terse. She put her arm around Alison protectively, shielding her from the man with the badge.

"We're just trying to get to the bottom of it. It's an unusual situation." The officer's face was tight. He looked down at his notes and scribbled something. "Why were you alone with all those chemicals? Were you planning to do something with them?"

Suddenly a "friendly" conversation was a deep dive into her psyche even though she didn't do anything wrong. Her head snapped up.

"Do something with them?" Alison gawked at the man. Unbelievable. "What, you think I was huffing or something?" Alison moved the mask, snarking in between several heavy breaths.

Emily pushed the mask up against her mouth, forcing her to take in the air that she needed.

"Listen, we know that finals and the end of the school year is a stressful time. It's easy to find yourself overwhelmed…looking for something to fix it…"

"You think she tried to kill herself?" Emily blurted out angrily at the insinuation of it.

"Excuse me?" Alison lowered the mask again. "I have a hot girlfriend, a baby on the way, and I got into NYU you fucking asshole."

Emily shot Alison a warning look. She pushed the mask up against her face again and silently warned her,

Please don't aggravate the police.

The cop didn't seem fazed.

"We just want to make sure all aspects of your well-being are being met and that you feel safe."

Alison had to hold back her rage.

Of fucking course I don't feel safe. My girlfriend's baby-daddy's psycho sister wants me dead. 'Safe' is a laughable term at this point.

"All. Good." She breathed slowly through the mask. Part of her weakness was an act to get the big bad officer off her back. "Gas must have leaked from somewhere."

The officer didn't look satisfied, but he didn't push it.

As he sauntered away Alison leaned into Emily and laid her head against her shoulder. She reached down with her free hand against Emily's abdomen to let the baby know that everything was going to be okay.

The little girl had been through so much and she hadn't even been born yet. She didn't want her to be born with a negative neurotic personality. She wanted her brave, confident, and optimistic.

"She still alive and kicking?" Alison kept her mask on with one hand and rubbed Emily's belly with her other hand. She could feel the baby moving. She was such an active little thing.

"She's good. While they were putting the butterfly bandages on your head they were examining us. Everything looks fine."

"You could have been killed. You were stupid to play hero." Alison scowled at her.

"You're welcome." Emily replied with bite. She sighed. "I'm just so glad you're okay."

She leaned towards Alison and softly kissed the bruise on her head. She felt Alison jump when her warm lips feathered over the lump there.

Alison closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing. She watched the cops and school authorities arguing about something.

"Do they seriously think I tried to kill myself?" Alison huffed. "They are so dumb."

"Don't get yourself worked up." Emily rubbed the space between her shoulder blades. "We don't need you passing out again."

"I should pass out again. Right in front of those big dumb oafs. Just to prove a point." Alison grumbled. "They let people like Wilden run free, but I'm in trouble because of something I didn't even do."

"They just have to cover their bases." Emily tried to calm her down.

"No, they're looking for someone to blame." Alison pulled the mask off of her face. "This town will never see me as anything more than a liar and a screw up."

"Good thing you have your pregnant girlfriend to distract them. I'm all the gossip they need." Emily reached for her hand.

When she felt Emily's touch she softened.

"I'm sorry. I'm cranky. My head hurts." She pushed her body closer to Emily's. "And I can't stop thinking about…"

She stopped short, knowing better than to say anything out loud. But she didn't have to finish her sentence for Emily to know what she was thinking.

"I can't stop thinking about the fact that after the baby is born this could be her life. What if she is the one in danger?"

Emily thought about it every minute of every day. It was bad enough that Alison was being targeted. Seeing her lifeless body in the science room had sent her mind careening into a really dark place. It was strange, but in that split second she had not only been terrified to lose Alison as a partner, but as her child's mother.

She didn't know how to wrap her head around the fact that she couldn't remember life before Alison, and she didn't want to look at a future without her. It's like the blonde had woken up a part of her soul that had been sleeping for years.

She wrapped her arms around Alison, careful not to squeeze her too tightly. She'd already been deprived of enough oxygen for the day.

The investigators didn't find anything tracing back to the attack. The tracks had been covered well. They summed it up to a faulty canister of gas when they found an empty canister in the supply closet.

The EMTs cleared Emily to drive. Alison's vitals were normal. So they were both free to go.

When they climbed in the car Alison sighed and put her head in her hands. She rubbed her temples and groaned.

Emily squeezed into the driver's seat. She reached over and touched Alison's arm.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Emily gazed softly at her.

"I've had enough of the hospital." Alison shook her head. She pulled her sunglasses out of her bag and put them on. "They said I was fine. I just want to get out of here."

Emily pulled the keys out and slid them into the ignition.

"You said you talked to Isaac this morning?" Alison reached for her seat belt.

"I did."

"What did he say?"

Emily shifted uncomfortably in the seat. Her back was starting to hurt. She knew she needed to get back home and get in bed.

"He hasn't seen Courtney in weeks." She gritted through her teeth.

"Oh…" Alison stiffened in her seat, "That's…" There was a dip in her brow, but Emily couldn't tell if it was anger or fear, "…what does that mean?"

"I wish I knew." Emily licked her lips nervously. "Isaac seems to think she's spinning out. He's worried about us. He wants to help."

"Are we going to let him?"

"I want to. But after what just happened back there…" She gripped the steering wheel. "This was a warning. And he's all alone in San Antonio. He doesn't have anyone looking out for him." She saw the disappointed look on Alison's face. "She'll kill him, Alison. If it's Courtney she will kill him."

Alison wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't know what they were supposed to do. She reached out and rubbed her fingers against the dashboard.

"I feel like we're at war. Every single day." Her eyes were watering from the stinging sensation in her head. "And the worst part is that I don't know what we're supposed to do here. I look around every corner expecting the worst. I get angry and then upset and then scared. And then I'm back to being pissed again."

She plopped back against the seat, huffing quietly. Emily reached over without a word and took her hand. Alison squeezed it.

"I just wanted to plan your baby shower." Alison rubbed her heel against the floorboard. "I just wanted a normal afternoon."

The 'normal' part of the conversation is what struck Emily. Alison's life would never be normal again. And it was because of her.

"I'm sorry." The words tumbled out of Emily's mouth before she could stop herself.

Alison sat up, staring at her.

"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault."

"But it sort of is. None of this would be happening to you if it wasn't for me." She ghosted her finger over the cut on Alison's head. "It's not normal. And I'm sorry about that. This pregnancy. These threats. You've been pulled in so many different directions."

"I knew what I was signing up for." The blonde replied softly. "And even after everything we've been through…all the chaos, I'd grab that pen and sign up all over again. You're worth it." She smiled, reaching over to touch Emily's stomach. "Both of you are." She gently moved her hand across Emily's abdomen, sparking a smile from the brunette. "We're so close to the finish line, Em."

In less than a week they had final exams. A week after that was graduation. Her due date was only a few days after graduation. It was supposed to be a time to feel joy.

Alison wanted so desperately to get to the 'happily ever after' part, but Emily knew that things weren't always that simple. The finish line was relative. The finish line was constantly moving goal posts.

While one chapter was closing, another was beginning. She'd never been nervous about the future before. But she'd also never been madly in love and an expectant mother before. She had a family now. She had everything to lose.

The person watching her from the shadows knew that.

As Emily's car disappeared around the corner, a figure moved on the school roof. It would have been poetic for them to die as a family. They'd almost met their end in that poison-filled room.

Almost.

Next time they wouldn't be so lucky.


A/N: I know, I know. It feels like they're behind the curve on this. Next chapter is the big one (and will likely also be delayed...sorry!). Kind of surreal that there are only a few chapters left. How do we feel about protective Isaac and Emily's unwillingness (she's stubborn to a fault!) to involve him? And also Emily FINALLY acknowledging some shit about how Courtney affected her...character growth?