CH 11
Love? Why do people yearn for it? Why do people want it in their life? Love is no good, love is just another name for pain. That's what Alison is thinking while she sits alone in a cell. She knows her rights, she knows she should call her lawyer but to be honest. She doesn't care. Nothing matters, nothing matters anymore for her.
Her love story was nothing more than a cruel tragedy. A deception that might cost her more than a broken heart because if her company was already struggling, after this, it's more than obvious that -A Toys will perish. Her family legacy will be destroyed just like her heart. So, why should she even care about calling a lawyer?
Feeling completely hopeless, Alison shows no interest in anything. But, someone else is very interested in her. A cop is dying to hear her version of the story. Because Emily needs to know, she wants to understand how someone like Alison would do what she did? Why try to kill her father? Why smuggle weapons?
Alison's company is not doing well. Even before the death of his father, Kenneth. The company was in a bad financial crisis. But, no matter how bad the situation could be, nothing justifies Alison's actions. That's what Emily tells to herself as she gets ready to face the sweet blonde who stole her heart.
And, the beautiful cop was ready to face an angry Alison. To finally see the blonde without her masks of a good person. But, she wasn't ready to face a broken Alison. A broken person who shows nothing more than an empty look.
"Ali…?"
The blonde doesn't react to Emily's presence. It's like her body was there but her mind was very far away.
"Alison. You've the right to a lawyer and make a call. You haven't done it. Why?"
The blonde doesn't reply, she doesn't move, she stays sitting on the floor, back against the wall and with a lost look on her face. The dear brunette gulps hard because one part of herself wants to rush towards her, hug her and let her know that everything is going to be okay. But, it's going to be okay? Will all of this end well?
Wayne Fields is not dead and Alison has no criminal records, so she can get a life after this. It's what Emily wants to believe. It's what she tries to reason with the dear DiLaurentis. But, the blonde is not listening, she's just not caring at all about moving a finger to improve her situation.
"ALISON!"
Emily is bursting in tears, trying to reach her with words. And, it might have been the piercing pitch of her voice or the tears of the brunette, what finally makes Alison look at her and put attention to what the cop is trying to say.
"Alison. If you confess. If you plead guilty. I can help you to get a good deal with the prosecutor, I…"
The blonde burst out laughing. She mocks Emily for her concern, she cynically mocks as she gets angrier and angrier about how the hell is that she fell for such a poor act.
"Ali?"
"Stop… Just stop the act. Stop pretending you are worried about me. That you care whatever happens to me!"
"But, I'm worried about you! I care!"
"Why?"
"What do you mean with 'why'?"
"Yes, why do you care if I'm just a case for you…"
Alison's broken words hit her hard. Because Alison is so much more than a case. She's the 1st love of Emily. The love the brunette never thought she would ever need and Emily has to bite her tongue to not express this deep feeling she has on the chest.
"Is there anything you want to confess, Alison? This is the time to say it…"
Emily makes a step forward, she's under the point of stretching her arm between the bars of the cell to reach Alison with something more than words but her initiative gets interrupted when Alison's cousin, the head of her defence council finally arrives.
"Do not say another word, Alison! Officer. You've no right to interrogate my client without the presence of a lawyer"
Spencer tries to get under Emily's skin, even if it was her who gave her the tip about Alison's situation. Because, yeah, Emily cares about Alison and she wants to be sure she has all the legal help she needs, even if that's hard to believe.
"How did you know I was here?"
Spencer doesn't reply to Alison, she simply starts to look into all the paperwork of the case. And, while Spencer is here to act as Alison's lawyer, Emily deeply sighs as she has no intention to get into an argument with Spencer Hastings. So, the brunette starts walking, ready to leave till she stops moving when she hears Alison's voice, talking to her.
"Wait! I've something to confess"
"Alison! Do not say another word!"
Spencer tries to shut down whatever the blonde wants to say because anything she says can be used against her, but nothing will stop Alison, to speak out what she has in her chest. Because she needs to say it out loud and she needs Emily to hear it too. So, brown meets blue, they stare at each other and then, Alison says…
"I confess…"
"Alison don't!"
Spencer doesn't stop to interrupt her but Alison keeps going.
"I confess that I've been a fool…"
"What?"
Both brunettes look confused and Alison resumes her speech when she says to Emily...
"I confess that I've been a fool for falling in love with your warmth, for loving you"
Emily gulps hard when she hears Alison's words and the way she says them, with such a heartbreaking voice. And, she wants to say something but she says nothing as the blonde makes very clear that all that love is gone. So, with tears rolling over her beautiful cheeks, Emily runs away, walking out of Alison' sight as soon as she can because Alison's pain is like a stab in her heart. Emily cannot tolerate seeing the blonde like this. So broken, so empty. So, she decides to not play any visit to the blonde, at least not for now.
And, she's not the only one who's avoiding an encounter. Kara is doing the same. Or, at least she tries.
Not taking the calls, ignoring the hundreds of texts and not accepting the delivery of flowers; all that comes from Lena, the blonde shut it down. Kara deeply sighs because it's very exhausting to cut any contact with the dear Luthor. Especially when Lena doesn't stop to reach her out.
"Should I talk with her?"
Kara wonders but feels not ready to have that talk. She's not ready to face Lena and her lies. She needs time to think, to process and she needs Lena to understand that, so she sends her request with a messenger of her trust.
"Alex!"
Lena smiles when she sees the dear Danvers in her office, till she realizes this is not a friendly visit at all.
It's not a very mature move from Kara to send her big sister to deal with her ex but, one visit from Alex Danvers is all that Lena needed to leave Kara alone. The texts stop, the delivery of chocolate & flowers stop, the intents of call stop too and the dear reporter finally gets what she wished. But now that Lena is giving her space, Kara is not sure if this is what she really wanted at all.
"Kara? Are you okay?"
Alex asks as she settles the movie and everything for their movie night. They have been having lots of movie nights lately. Kara knows that her big sister is worried about her, and she wants to tell Alex that she's fine, but she's not. How could she be fine when she's heartbroken? When her 1st love turned out to be nothing more than a lie. A very cruel lie.
She was con, in a vile way, that's what Alex always says, and she might be right but, that doesn't make her feel any better. It's the first time this reporter falls in love. She always wanted to know how it felt. But, now that she's living it, she's not so sure if wish for it was a good idea. It hurts more than what she even imagined and she wonders how Alex has survived all her breakups, so she asks guidance and all what Alex has to say is...
"There's not a magic answer for that, Kara. You just need to take your time so your heart can heal, and let go to move on…"
"I don't know how to do that…"
"No one knows, but, you'll figure it out"
Kara nods and smiles when Alex hugs her. It's good to have a big sister who is watching over you. Someone who has your back no matter what. That's the role of the big brother, and that's why Jason is finally ready to do what he should have done from the moment that Alison got arrested.
Because, yeah. It was Jason who shot Wayne Fields. It's him who has been using the company resources to smuggle weapons. And, he's ready to confess so Alison can be free from any guilt but, his partner in business doesn't share the same point of view. That's why, Jason receives an unexpected visit in his loft just the moment when he's ready to go to the cops.
"Lex, I'm not going to let Alison pay for something she didn't do!"
Jason tries to make Lex Luthor, his partner, understand that family comes first. But Lex cannot risk letting Jason talk with the cops. He knows too much about him, so he shoots him in cold blood.
"Sorry, Jason. Nothing personal"
Says Lex with a devious smirk as he watches the dead body of Jason DiLaurentis. The older Luthor leaves the loft and some hours later, Jason's girlfriend, Aria Montgomery arrives and finds the dead body.
"JASON!"
With shaking hands, Aria calls 911 and from that moment, everything changes.
"911. What is your emergency?"
The news of Jason's murder run fast. It's a cop who informs Alison about his brother's death and the blonde doesn't want to believe it. She refuses to believe that her brother got killed while she's in jail for a crime she didn't commit.
"AHHHH!"
Screams of anger, screams of pain. Alison loses it completely like she has never done it before. Her sorrow for the loss of her brother is something that Emily cannot ignore, and she's walking towards Alison's cell with the idea of offering any kind of comfort when her dear friend, Aria, arrives at the police station to see her.
"Emily!"
'Aria?"
The tall brunette offers a hug to comfort Aria, who's also grieving after the loss of Jason. And, talking about him…
"I need to give you something, Emily"
"What is this?"
The brunette wonders when Aria gives her a hard drive.
"Jason told me once that if anything happened to him. I should bring this to the cops. So, here, take this"
Emily nods, she has no clue why the old DiLaurentis gave such specific instructions to his girlfriend. It's like if he had the feeling that something bad could ever happen to him. But, why? The brunette doesn't understand the reasons till she connects the drive to her PC and sees with her own eyes all the evidence she never found in Alison.
"DiLaurentis… OMG! It was Jason DiLaurentis!"
To confirm what the hard drive is showing, Wayne Fields is finally able to speak without putting at risk his health. And, yes, he said DiLaurentis, but, he was talking about Jason and not Alison.
"Are you sure about your testimony, Mr. Fields?"
Tobby asks as he takes his declaration in the hospital.
"Yes, Tobby. I saw him. It was him who shot me. I don't know why. He was the one who settled down the meeting. He told me he was ready to come clean and give all the data about the smuggling"
"Maybe, he just settled a trap for you?"
"I don't think so. When I saw him, that night, I saw fear in his eyes, his hand was shaking as he pointed out the gun at me. It was like he was pushed to shoot me…"
"By whom?"
"I don't know. But, my guess is that whoever killed him is actually the one who's behind all of this"
Tobby deeply sighs because this means that they cannot close the case. The real villain might still be free, hiding and they need to find him before he makes more damages. In any case, all this new evidence just proves that they got it all wrong and Alison was never guilty. And, as bad as it can feel to put an innocent behind bars, it's even worse to know that you sacrificed your heart for an assumption.
Ashamed, sad, feeling like the worst kind of person in the world. Emily rushes to face Alison and tries to repair what she damaged. But, it's too late because when she appears in front of the blonde, those blue eyes show nothing more than hate towards her.
"Emily…"
Alison coldly says the name of the brunette who is standing there, in front of her, with tears falling from her beautiful brown eyes. The blonde deeply sighs as she starts to sign all the documents for her release. She's not guilty of anything, so, there's no reason to stay in the cell any longer.
"Ali, I'm so sorry, I…"
"I don't allow you to call me Ali. I'm Miss DiLaurentis for you…"
Emily gulps hard, she knows she deserves the cold shoulder but, that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.
"Miss DiLaurentis, I…"
"You suck as a cop, officer Fields. And, make no doubt that you'll hear from my lawyers"
"You'll sue me?"
"I'm suing the entire department. Your incompetence and absence of ethic has cost me too much"
Yeah, too much pain, too much sorrow. Emily could find thousands of reasons to justify her actions, but, in the end, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter for Alison, because she's no longer the sweet blonde to whom Emily fell in love. Now, she's nothing more than a girl without a heart.
People say your 1st love never comes true. And, it seems they are right, because this 1st love is not the only one which will end badly because another blonde is more than ready to close a chapter of her life.
"Miss Danvers is here to see you, Miss Luthor"
Lena smiles a lot when her assistant announces the arrival of the sweet reporter. The CEO is still shocked that Kara was the one who requested the meeting in the first place. Maybe the space she gave her, it finally paid off but she couldn't be more wrong because Kara is not here to repair their relationship, she's here to get closure.
The blonde is very clear about her motives to meet. And, Lena refuses to accept it.
"I'll not break up with you, Kara!"
"We don't need to break up, Lena. We never started in the first place. Nothing was real… nothing…"
"That's not true! I love you! I'm in love with YOU!"
With tears in her eyes, Lena tries to make Kara understand that her love for her is real. But, those words are said in vain as Kara doesn't believe her at all.
"You should know that I've talked with Cat about us, about what you tried to get from me"
"What?! Why?!"
"I felt like my integrity as a reporter was left in doubt. So, I told her and requested her to give the list to someone else to finish…"
"Oh, Kara… I… I'm so sorry. This was a big opportunity for you and I blew it for you"
"Not really. Cat refused my request and told me to finish what I started, so, I did, I finished my article without questioning my judgement…"
Kara gets a copy of the new number of Catco Magasin and gives it to Lena. The dear brunette flips through the pages and gasps in surprise when she realizes she's in the list, like the 2nd philanthropist in the city.
"Kara, I…"
"I changed the title of my article. I decided that people should appreciate more those who helps than those who have power"
The blonde is happy with her article, with her work and she's ready to go, but Lena doesn't want her to go.
"Kara, wait I…"
"I realized that my ethic for my work is stronger than my broken heart. So, you should know that you were fairly evaluate"
Lena drops away the magazine, she doesn't care anymore about the ranking and the publicity she can from it. All she cares it's to get Kara back, but she's too far away to get. Since Kara has no intention to give her a second chance.
"I'll get you back, Kara!"
Yells Lena as the reporter leaves her office. It was a promise she plans to keep even if she doesn't know how. And, if you're asking who got the 1st place in Kara's ranking as the most philanthropist person in the city. Well, that place was for no one else than…
"Alison"
The blonde is in her office at -A Toys, reading the ranking of Catco. She tries to not put attention on the brunette who just arrived without previous notice, but it's obvious that the girl will not leave, so she has no other choice than deal with her.
"Number 1 as the most remarkable person in the City…"
"Ali, I…"
"I'm number one because, like the article says: no one donates more money and does more hours in charitable institutions than ME! And, I should be happy about this. But, all I can wonder is how this reporter that I don't know, it's better judge of character than YOU!"
The blonde drops the article open in front of Emily to see it. And, the brunette gulps hard as she feels bad about her assumptions and the pain she caused to the woman she loves.
"I'm sorry, Ali…"
"I'm done hearing your apologies. If that's the only reason you came, please leave…"
The brunette closes tight her fists, trying to stay strong as she has lots of things to say. She's not ready to leave, at least not yet because...
"I love you"
Alison laughs when Emily proclaims her love for her.
"Please, do not mock about my feelings for you"
Emily pleads and to that, Alison replies...
"It's you who's mocking about me if you think I will ever believe a word you say!"
"It's not a lie, Ali! I…"
"I made very clear that I'm Miss DiLaurentis for you…"
Emily deeply sighs, she's trying to stay calm and not lose her temper but the blonde is making it very hard for her. And, that's because all the love Alison had for her has turned into a bitter rage that Alison cannot erase.
Erase the deception, erase the sadness and all the memories of what they lived together, that's what Alison desires more than anything. But, she can't. She cannot erase the fact that she was madly in love with this woman and how much it hurt to be betrayed by her.
"You thought I was the villain! How could you?!"
"Ali, I'm sorry, I…"
"I'm not done talking so, do not dare to say a word till I'm done!"
Emily seals her lips and decides to just listen to whatever Alison needs to say.
"You said that you loved me! We made love! You let me believe I was loved! How could you be so cruel?!"
Emily has no idea how to answer that. She could have chosen to not get emotionally involved with the blonde, she could have chosen to investigate the company with another approach. But, she didn't.
"Why offer me a glimpse of happiness if all you wanted it was to find me guilty?!"
Alison is right, so many things that the brunette could have done differently but, she didn't because regardless of how cruel this might look, she wanted to be with Alison, she wanted her, even if she did it for the wrong reasons.
"You should know, the cruelest part of your deception it's that if you would have simply come to me and told me about your investigation. I would have helped you to find the truth without a second thought"
"Even if that would have led you to put your brother behind bars?"
"Yes. Because that's how righteous I believe myself to be. But, I guess you never really knew that much about me. Just like I never really knew you"
"Ali, I…"
"You had a choice. And, you chose wrong. Now, leave because I don't want to see you"
"Ali, I…"
"LEAVE!"
"Ali, I…"
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY LIFE! I…"
"I'M PREGNANT!"
Alison freezes when she hears very clearly the real reason for Emily's unexpected visit.
"I… I'm pregnant…"
Many times, Emily dreamed with this moment, imagining how happy Alison would react if they ever would get a child. Joy, tears of happiness, any reaction was what Emily was expecting to see in Alison's face. But, all she got was a cold face without any trace of happiness at all. And, she cannot expect more from a girl without a heart.