"Alice, I cannot believe you did that," Emilia sighed over their phone. She laid on her couch with a hand over her forehead, fingers rubbing deep circles over her skin.

Alice snorted. "Do what?"

"You purposely gave Detective Carisi those cards!"

"So he could bring them to you? Yeah, I did. What's the big deal?"

Emilia moved her hand off her forehead. "The big deal is that you did it to fuel your imagination."

"No, I did it so that gorgeous detective could cheer you up. And he did, right?" Emilia could just hear the smirk on Alice's face. "He so did, I know it!"

Emilia sighed deeply. Her mind wandered to two nights ago when Sonny had stopped by with the letters her students made for her. He did make her smile and laugh, but not for his professional bits. She hardly focused on those.

"So what did you guys do anyways?" Alice eagerly asked. "Little talking? Maybe hugs? A kiss?"

"Alice! No! Don't even joke about that!" Emilia scolded.

Alice laughed. "I wasn't! It would be very nice to be kissed by a man like that."

Emilia absolutely hated herself for even daring to think about the idea of Sonny kissing her. "There are limits here, Alice. Boundaries? He is the detective on my case. He can't possibly get anywhere near me like that."

"Who says?"

"The rules!"

Alice waited a second to speak again. "Rules were meant to be broken."

"Alice, I can't believe you right now." That was a lie. Emilia had known Alice for a while enough to know this was perfectly in sync with her personality. "Thank you for the cards, though. Tell the kids I'll be back soon."

"Will you really?" Alice asked, not wanting to sound too unconvinced.

"Yes, I figure I have a much better shot at finding this stalker if I'm leaving the house more often."

"Well, I mean, it's all good when you have the gorgeous—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Emilia warned her. "Maybe it's better if they back off too, the police? Maybe they're intimidating the guy into hiding and what I want, what I need, is for him to step out."

"I think you should leave the police the way they are. They're helping protect you, after all."

"I don't know, I just don't want anyone else to die because of me. I don't think I could handle that." Emilia didn't even want to think about the "next time". There wouldn't be one, not if she could help it.

~0~

A few more days would pass by before Emilia returned to work. She'd mostly done it to see if she could start baiting this stalker on her own. She was more vigilant, at least that's what she liked to tell herself. Wherever she went, she would look around at least twice to notice anything or anyone out of place.

"That's our job," Amanda told her one day during school hours.

Emilia would then respond with a polite smile and a shake of her head. "He wants me, remember?"

To which then Alice, whenever she heard, would reprimand Emilia for thinking that way. "It is not your job! It's theirs!" She pointed over to Nick standing at a distance to oversee the playground. "It's what they studied for!"

"It doesn't sit well with me," Emilia grumbled. She glanced over at Nick who was just watching the playground. She was sure that he had a lot more pressing cases to deal with instead of watching her work with a bunch of five year olds. Everyone did.

"Well too bad," Alice said, "Don't go doing anything stupid until that guy is caught, alright? For yourself, for the kids here, for all of us, stay out of trouble."

"Yeah, alright," Emilia nodded.

She had every intention of trying to have a normal day. She even had lesson plans she would start today, but half an hour later she received a text from her sister, Raelyn.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Emilia hissed after reading the long message.

Alice, who stood beside Emilia, openly gaped at the language. Emilia always remembered her professional boundaries and for her to momentarily slip like this meant whatever was on that phone had to be big.

"What is it?" She tried asking Emili during their recess where it was easier to converse without being overheard by any of the kids.

"It's Raelyn. She's messed up." Emilia looked positively livid. Alice suspected the only reason Emilia wasn't screaming is because of their students.

"What did she say?"

"It's what she said and did," Emilia muttered. "She saw Sonny and I one day outside the apartment and she just automatically assumed we were dating and since I would rather die than admit about the case, Raelyn sort of went home with that idea."

Alice chuckled.

"Shut up," Emilia promptly said before continuing with her story. "I begged her not to say anything to our parents. But of course, being the annoying big sister that she is, she couldn't keep her mouth shut."

Alice was barely holding onto her second laugh. "Don't tell me that she told…"

Emilia nodded grimly. "My stalker won't be able to get me anymore because I'm going to jail for murdering my sister. My parents now want to have lunch with us on Saturday. One p.m sharp."

Alice burst into laughter so loud that she attracted some of their students' attention. Soon enough, they were surrounding Alice asking her why she was laughing.

Emilia decided she needed to walk away before she murdered Alice as well. Double homicide was just a bit too much.

She headed back inside with the excuse that she needed the restroom, only stopped by Nick on the way in.

"Everything okay?" He asked, noticing the pained look on Emilia's face.

"Peachy," she answered in a spat.

Nick backed off if only not to agitate her even more. He decided to come up to Alice instead just to verify that Emilia was alright and safe.

"Yeah, she's alright," Alice said, biting her lip so as to not laugh again. That was probably what helped set Emilia off too. "On a completely unrelated note, when's Detective Carisi's day again?"

"Friday, why?" Nick eyed Alice strangely.

"No reason, just curious," Alice smiled much too sweetly. She was quick to relay the answer to Emilia when they were together again.

During class, Emilia was locked in that she couldn't reprimand Alice for even asking Nick that nor for having the outrageous idea that she would actually talk to Sonny about this.

"Well, what are you going to do then?" Alice challenged for a good answer. She watched a few of their students pass out the green construction paper they were going to use for an art project.

"First, I'm going to scream at Raelyn until she shrivels up," Emilia said, coming by the opposite side of their table to hand out orange construction paper, "And then I'm going to somehow convince my parents that you know who isn't in town. Or maybe that we just broke up. Actually, I like the second one instead. A lot easier and I might even get some free lunch along the way."

"You are such a coward," Alice made sure to whisper when Emilia was closer.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Emilia incredulously demanded.

"Tell the detective about this!"

It was like Emilia had heard blasphemy. "Absolutely not! He already did me the favor of letting Raelyn believe this stuff and I am not going to ask him to play boyfriend with me for my parents." The mere idea of that had her stomach twisting and churning. She might take her lunch break earlier just to go and throw up.

"Maybe with this you wouldn't have to just 'play' anymore," Alice mumbled.

"Alice," Emilia threw her friend a glare.

"Just saying," Alice smiled sweetly. She hurried along to start the art project.

Emilia shook her head. She would figure something out before Saturday. It was Wednesday. She had plenty of time to come up with a good plan.

~0~

Come Friday, Emilia was still trying to figure things out. She had cornered Raelyn Wednesday night and she was rather proud that she almost made Raylen cry.

Serves her right for screwing me over. Emilia lamented the fact that it didn't fix anything. Her parents still wanted to have lunch.

That Friday morning, Emilia couldn't look Sonny in the eyes without flushing so she opted not to even try. When Sonny greeted her at the start of school, Emilia mumbled 'good morning' back and hurried inside.

"Have you said anything?" Alice whispered during the students' snack time.

Emilia shook her head fervently. "No, of course not. How can I look him in the eyes and tell him this?"

"Just like how you always talk to people?" Alice's suggestion was not well received. Emilia went around the kids' tables picking up trash whilst glaring at Alice.

"It's different," Emilia hissed on her way past Alice. She went to throw the trash away.

"Yeah, I wonder why," Alice mumbled under her breath. Thankfully, Emilia didn't hear a thing. "You're going to have to do something by tomorrow," Alice spoke normally when Emilia returned.

"I'm just going to go to lunch and while we're 'waiting', I'll pretend to get a text from him saying that a case has come up."

Alice snorted loud enough to cause giggles from a few students nearby. Emilia made a motion for those students to settle down.

"It's the only thing I can do," Emilia finally said, sighing in the process.

"Not the only thing," Alice once again mumbled.

Emilia pretended she didn't hear that. She focused on picking up the remaining snack trash and moving the students along towards their next activity. Along the morning, Emilia received several more texts that Alice assumed were from Raelyn. Emilia looked more nervous with each new message.

"I think I'm going to need a cup of coffee," Emilia decided around ten a.m when the students were busy doing individual work. "Maybe two."

"The phone keeps buzzing, huh?" Alice asked, eyeing the phone in Emilia's hand. It was lighting up again with a new text.

Emilia sighed. "Yeah, my mother's taking the liberty of having a whole conversation with me even though she knows I'm at work. She's so excited that I have a…" Emilia cleared her throat, "You know what…"

Alice snorted again. "Yeah, I think I know what…"

"And she's just so excited because it's been a while and whatnot."

"Oh right," Alice recalled the last boyfriend Emilia had a while back, "Nate. He was cute."

Emilia playfully rolled her eyes. "Not the point, Alice."

"But not as cute as—"

"I'm getting coffee!" Emilia exclaimed strategically and started for the door. She ignored Alice's laugh behind her. It certainly didn't help to get another text from her mother as soon as she stepped outside.

Be sure to be on time please! We are super excited to meet your boyfriend!

Emilia didn't bother to read the rest of the text. It wouldn't matter because said (fake) boyfriend wasn't even going to show up.

"Emilia," Sonny's call had been more startling for Emilia than the entire idea of having dinner with her parents.

It was embarrassing scrambling to catch her phone before it fell out of her hands. Sonny was too kind to ever say a thing — Emilia was eternally grateful for it.

"Hey," Sonny greeted her again, having noticed that her eyes never really met his.

"Hi," Emilia said quietly, finding the bulletin board of the classroom opposite of them truly interesting. "Did you leave?"

"Huh? Oh, no, well, sort of," Sonny bobbed his head. "I had a call from my Sergeant."

"No, no, I didn't mean to accuse you," Emilia said quickly, "Just asking. Course I know I'm not your only case. Sad reality, huh?"

Sonny smiled sadly. What he would give for Emilia not to be a "case" anymore. "Were you going somewhere? Not time for your break, is it?" He checked his watch just to make sure he hadn't lost track of time. "Oh no, it's only 10. Individual work time, right?"

Emilia's eyebrows raised with surprise. "Yes, how did you know?"

It was Sonny's turn to flush with embarrassment. "Part of the case is we have to learn your schedule." That was a lie. He only needed to be where Emilia was. Learning the schedule of a kindergarten class was not part of the case.

"Oh, so you have to learn what my kids do every hour," Emilia made a face, "Can't really not laugh at that knowing you're a detective."

"What? Ladybug dot painting is at 11, isn't it?" Sonny was only half joking with her. It was actually at 11:15, right after circle time.

Emilia let out a light chuckle. "Yeah, you're right. I was just getting some coffee before. Art can be very energy-draining."

"With 5 year olds? I bet. Dot paint goes anywhere but the paper, am I right?" At Emilia's impressed expression, Sonny added the fact he had a couple nieces.

"Oh," Emilia crossed her arms, "So you really do know the schedules then!"

"They're older now but I've seen my share fair of, uh, moments with crafts. Once again, teachers have more patience than God himself." Sonny did a mock salute for Emilia, earning another laugh from her. My God he just couldn't get enough of that...

Emilia soon felt self-conscious just standing in the hallway with the gorge—detective. With the detective. She swallowed hard, trying to deal with the impossible pit of warmth in her chest as subtly as possible. "I was just—" she stumbled over her own words. "Coffee. I was getting coffee," she managed to say a moment later. Her phone buzzed again. She squeezed it tight.

"Okay, I'll walk with you," Sonny said, unknowingly making it final that Emilia didn't have a choice.

He's doing his job, she reminded herself. He really was.

They walked the hallway and a few seconds later, Emilia's phone screen lit up with a new incoming message.

"Really busy, huh Miss Emilia?" Sonny teased.

Emilia swallowed hard. "Aha…"

"Something bothering you? You know, besides the obvious?" Sonny could guess the answer on his own but he thought he should offer Emilia the opportunity to say it herself. Plus, he would really like to hear her voice. For some reason, she hadn't really spoken to him this morning.

"No, um, not really," Emilia shrugged. Liar.

Sonny didn't quite believe it — he didn't believe it at all. "Are you sure?"

"Well, my parents invited me to lunch tomorrow and…"

"Ah, got it," Sonny cut in with a small laugh. "Parents."

Emilia nodded. "Yeah. My mother's just over the top and it's overwhelming."

"Nitty gritty with every detail, right?" Sonny counted a point for himself when Emilia finally met his eye. She smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah," she said.

Sonny smiled back at her. "My mother's the same. Maybe it's just a Mom thing."

"I don't know but whatever it is, I wish it would stop. I can't handle that along with my 25 other kids here."

"Yeah, that could get tricky," Sonny said, chuckling again. He had to laugh again when he heard Emilia's phone buzzing.

Emilia groaned. "Oh my God! I might just throw this thing out!"

"Wouldn't do that — everything's on the cellphone these days," Sonny warned. "Maybe just try turning it off?"

"Turning it off," Emilia sighed as she only just now thought of it. She looked over at Sonny with gratitude. "Seriously, thanks." She might pay for it later with her mother but right now, she wanted absolute silence from her phone.

"No problem," Sonny said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She was stuffing her phone away as fast as possible. "Was it really that bad?"

"Yes," Emilia said without a second thought. "She caught me off guard, basically."

"Don't they always?"

Emilia laughed. She nodded.

"But listen, in all honesty, if there's something I can help you out with, let me know," Sonny said, daring to put his hand on Emilia's shoulder for a moment. He may have kept his hand there for an extra second when Emilia gave him another smile.

"You don't have to," she said. He had enough on his plate with her case for her to go and add something stupid like this.

"No, it's not part of the job but if I'm able to, I'll do it," Sonny assured, never knowing how much Emilia truly appreciated his gesture. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Emilia stopped walking suddenly, deliberating her answer because for a moment she almost considered telling him the truth. Would he laugh kindly at her? Or would he be upset his little gesture of a white lie grew into something way bigger?

He said he wasn't seeing anyone. But that was a while ago. Things can change and you don't know what he does outside of work.

"Em?" The use of her nickname slipped so easily from Sonny that he only realized a moment later. Still, he waited patiently for Emilia to answer and for a comment about that new nickname.

"...no," Emilia finally said. Her head lowered, whether in shame or utter guilt she had no idea. Embarrassment seemed like the best way to go.

Sonny didn't feel the need to go deeper into that. He was sure if Emilia had something big to deal with, someone would help. "Alright then," he nodded.

Emilia continued to walk then, but she started biting her nail every now and then. Sonny also noted that she stopped looking him in the eyes again after that.

~0~

"You are so stupid," Alice did not hold back her thoughts one bit. She couldn't believe that Emilia missed the opportunity to let Sonny in on the situation.

Emilia was thankful that the detective in question was taking another call outside the class. The students were gone and now they were doing their afternoon cleaning before heading home.

"He would have helped you!"

"I don't know that — I don't know his life!" Emilia exclaimed. She folded their cleaning rags together. "He might not be okay with this at all."

"Well, you'd never know," Alice said, "You didn't even give him the chance to think about it."

"It's embarrassing!"

"But it's not your fault!"

"I KNOW IT'S NOT!" Emilia yelled abruptly that it left Alice still in her spot. Emilia swallowed and pushed away the lump in her throat, but when she turned towards Alice, the tears in her eyes gave her out. "I know none of this is my fault! How could it be my fault that I have a stalker? I didn't ask for that!"

"Emilia—"

"I definitely didn't ask for people to be killed on my behalf! I'll have to live with the fact that three children are now motherless because of me and I shouldn't have to feel this way!"

"But Emilia—"

"But here I am dealing with the aftermath of other people's decisions! I have to face the three kids who don't have mothers anymore and pretend like nothing happened. I have to constantly be alert for anybody who stares at me a bit longer than normal. And to top it all off—" Emilia laughed bitterly—, "I have to deal with my sister who couldn't keep her mouth shut about a man who is far too sweet to ever tell me no and I refuse to put him in that situation!"

Alice felt like she had opened the can of worms that Emilia had tried so hard to keep shut. Whatever tape Emilia put on the lid was ripped apart.

"I'm done putting everyone into my situations!" Emilia threw the rag in her hand in a random direction—in this case at the door that just so happened to open at the same time.

"Is everything alri—" Sonny flinched when the rag hit him on the nose.

Emilia's hands flung to her mouth, completely mortified. "Oh, of course!"

Sonny looked down at the rag that fell in front of his feet, eyes wide and blinking fast. "Okay…"

"Of course!" Emilia could only wonder how else the universe would decide to screw her over.

"Emilia—"

Emilia couldn't bear to be in the same room with Alice nor Sonny — she had to get out. Now. She bolted.

"Emilia!" Alice called after her friend.

Being right in front of the door gave Sonny the opportunity to catch Emilia on her way out. "Hey, hey, what's the matter?" He didn't expect Emilia to thrash against him, but she did.

"I need to go home! Let me go!"

Sonny was downright dumbfounded with this behavior. He squeezed Emilia's arms in an attempt to keep her still. "Okay — well — Emilia! We can go—"

"ALONE!" Emilia practically shouted in his face. The ferocity in her tone left Sonny still. His grip on her consequently loosened and Emilia was able to pull away. She made a dash for her cubby to retrieve her things then ran out the classroom.

Alice stared at the scene with a similar dumbfounded expression.

Sonny couldn't believe it. He had never seen Emilia like that but at the same time, he couldn't say he was completely shocked. He'd seen this type of behavior show up in victims — some would just take longer to bloom. "What pushed her?" He asked suddenly.

Alice blinked at him, taking a moment to process the question thrown at her. "What?"

Sonny looked away from the open door and met Alice's gaze. "What set her off?"

"Um…" Alice went through her options and which ones guaranteed Emilia's best interests. Emilia can't possibly get more pissed off now, she reasoned with herself.

"Alice," Sonny's voice was sharp now, his whole body turned in Alice's direction, "This is important. Emilia can't go on with that kind of behavior. It puts her in danger, alright? What happened?"

Alice still deliberated for another minute. At least Sonny could see that she was in a true struggle — she wasn't staying quiet out of desire.

"Let me ask you this," she started, licking her lips, "And you have to answer honestly."

Sonny nodded, giving Alice the gesture to ask away.

"How much do you like Emilia?"

Author's Note:

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

For the reviews: Thank you for the lovely reviews! Got a little new inspo after these recent episodes to keep writing!