A/N: Thank you for all your lovely reviews but i just want to point out a few things. Idk if you know but i'm from the UK and i try to go through and change the spellings of things and say different things the way you say/spell them in the US but if i do say something wrong/spell something wrong i'm sorry!
31st October- 139 days until Emily returns
*No one POV*
"Ali?"
"Ali?" Rollins repeated, walking into their bedroom wearing surgeon scrubs and a bag of fake blood in his hand. "I need your help," he said, holding the bag up as he caught her glance in her dressing table mirror. She stood up, her costume already on, as he looked her up and down.
"It's not too short is it?" She said, all of a sudden conscious of Hanna's costume choice as after all she was married.
"No it looks great, I like a girl in a short skirt," he smirked, handing the fake blood to her.
"You mean you like your wife in a short skirt? Not just any random girl," she said, raising her eyebrow.
He chuckled, "You know what I mean."
"Hmmm," She mumbled as she took the blood back and began smothering it all over his costume. She got to his ankles when his phone started ringing, causing him to quickly move over to the nightstand so the blood back tipped all over the floor – and Ali. "For God sake Adam," She grumbled, running into the bathroom to place the blood bag in the sink before returning with a towel to wipe up the blood from the floor.
"Hey, Mona!" Rollins chirped. "Yeah I'm just here with Ali now….. I think she is going with Hanna and everyone….uh huh….I can pick you up if you like?... I have some fake blood…yeah come around to our house and I'll sort you out…see you soon…okay bye." He placed the phone down before looking over at Ali who was on the floor, towel in hand, raising her eyebrow at him.
"What?" He said, a little too defensively for Ali's liking.
"Are you not going to offer to help clean this up?" She said. She could see his face visibly relax a little before he smiled and joined her on the floor.
They had just finished mopping up the mess and Ali was just cleaning the fake blood off her leg when the doorbell went.
"That will be Mona," Rollins said, rushing out the door and down the stairs. From their en suite bathroom Ali couldn't hear downstairs but as she exited the bathroom she was confused that she couldn't hear Rollins or Mona downstairs. She turned around, heading over to her dresser to finalize her hair. She heard the door click shut however looking into the mirror of her dresser she couldn't see anyone.
"Adam?" She called, turning around to be greeted by silence. She got up from her dresser, heading into the bathroom to see if he was hiding. Before she had time to call his name, a hand was placed over her mouth very similar to a way all those years ago. As the panic set in, she struggled to free herself only to find the person wasn't holding on to her anymore.
"OH MY FUCKING GOD," She screamed. When she turned around it was like she was looking into a reoccurring nightmare. The person stood in front of her was wearing one of the thought-to-have-been-destroyed Alison masks, blonde hair and a legendary red trench coat. Before she could even think about what she was doing, she ripped off the mask to find the one and only Charlotte DiLaurentis holding in her laughter. "What the actual fuck! You absolute bitch!" She screamed, throwing the mask on the floor before shoving Charlotte back causing her to lose her footing and fall into the bathtub.
"Calm your tits Ali, jeez it was a joke," She said, trying to get Alison's hands off of her.
"Well it wasn't fucking funny!" She shouted, climbing on top of her to pin her down.
"It was," A voice chuckled. She turned around to find Adam stood in the doorway.
"Did you set her up to this?" She said, temporarily releasing her grip from Charlotte.
"The costume idea was hers, the scaring part was mine," He confessed, still chuckling at the image of Ali flipping out and Charlotte falling into the bathtub. She jumped out of the bathtub, heading over to Rollins and smacking him, pretty hard, on the arm.
"I don't fucking think so," She said as Charlotte tried to get out of the tub. Ali walked back over, pushing her back down before turning on the tap. "No way are you going to the party like that. No fucking way," She said, pushing her under the tap causing her to scream.
"Ali that's freezing! Ali stop! I'm sorry jeez," She cried, not sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry.
"Good," She said. Once Charlotte was absolutely soaked from head to toe and she was satisfied, she let go of her grip. She walked over to the mask, picking it up and snapping it in half before breaking bits off and throwing them at Charlotte who was still laid soaking wet in the tub.
"Can I get out and get into my real costume now?" She asked, to which Alison just mumbled an 'I suppose so' before walking off downstairs. When she reached the kitchen, she was surprised to see Mona there in a very revealing nurses outfit with fake blood now smothered all over her.
"Hey Ali," She smiled.
"Hey Mona," Ali smiled, before they were both interrupted by Rollins walking in.
"Right we are off Ali, I'll see you there," He smiled, as him and Mona made their way out of the kitchen. Ali was just stood blinking at the front door, completely baffled by what just happened. That was the first time that Rollins had ever left without either kissing her goodbye or saying 'I love you'.
"Ali why are you stood there looking like a gormless crocodile?" Charlotte said, descending the stairs and standing in front of Ali. Drawing her eyes back to focus on the person in front of her, she raised her eyebrows and she looked over Charlotte's choice of costume.
"Erm what's this?" She said, pointing to her costume which was the exact same as Ali's except she was Batman.
"We are the super hero sisters. After all, that's what we are right?" She laughed nervously, even after all these years she still fears rejection from her sister.
"Of course we are," Ali smiled, pulling her sister into a reassuring hug as she sensed her unease. They both left the house, opting to walk to the station as they both knew they'd be drinking.
"Have you heard from Emily?" Charlotte said, linking her arm with her sister; it was a common occurrence in their relationship.
"No not for almost a week, since we went costume shopping," She sighed.
"Have you thought about what you're going to do?" Charlotte said, grasping Ali's left with her free hand and signalling towards her rings.
"No, I don't want to. Everything is such a mess. I think I'm regretting telling her I love her and kissing her. It's just made everything even more complex."
"Hey don't say that. Doing that has gave Emily a reason to want to live. I know she has her mom and things but now she has a reason why she needs to come back. It will have gave her motivation."
"I guess so. But even when she does come back, what then? It's not like we can be together."
"Why not?" Charlotte said, causing Ali to turn to her and give her a look which suggests she had just said that the grass is red. Charlotte tutted, "Yes Ali I am aware that you are married. But you can't stay married to Rollins if you love Emily."
"I know I can't but I'm just scared. It will break his heart," She said, earning an unconvincing look from Charlotte.
"And the real reason you're scared?" Charlotte said, "Come on Ali you know you can tell me anything."
"So me and Adam get divorced and Em and I finally get together, but then she'll be away for 6 months at a time in the Army and I'll be all alone. And if she dies…. I can't stand the thought of being on my own," She said quietly, looking down almost embarrassed at her confession.
"Hey, Ali look at me," Charlotte instructed, stopping them dead in their tracks and lifting Ali's face towards her. "You will always have me, Jason and the other girls. And you'll always have Emily." She smiled, "Here," she said, pointing to Ali's heart, "And here," She said, now pointing to the mermaid necklace around her neck. "For once in your life follow you heart Ali," She said, wiping the tear that was making its way down her sister's cheek before pulling her into a hug. "Hell I'll get you a dog at Christmas if I need to," She chuckled.
"Thank you."
"I love you baby sis."
"I love you too," She said, pulling away. "Now let's go get drunk and enjoy this party," She smiled.
"Now there's the Ali D I know and love," Charlotte cheered.
"Stop calling me Ali D, you're worse than Hanna."
"You wouldn't be Ali D if it wasn't for me so I think I have the right to call you that," She smiled, causing Alison to chuckle. "When it comes to partying with moi, you'll always be Ali D" Charlotte laughed, dragging Ali along the sidewalk as she was beginning to get cold.
They were first going to The Radley where everyone was waiting to get on the shuttle buses to Rosewood Train Station. There were several trains leaving due to the number of people wanting to get on and they had to separate the adults from teens. When they arrived at The Radley it was jam packed with people, inside and out, who were all dressed up in an array of costumes.
"Alison, Charlotte," The security guard on the door said as he handed them both a purple wristband. The different colored wristbands signified which train you would be getting on.
"Damn our brother has done a good job," Charlotte said, as they both stood taking in the sight in front of them. All the waiters were dressed as 'crazy waiters' with their shirts ripped and blood stains etc. and they were handing out cocktails with fake eyeballs or fingers in. The place was engulfed in fake trees to make it look like scary woods. Smoke filled the 'woods' from smoke machines and there were several props like graveyards, coffins and huge cobwebs hanging off the trees.
"Thanks," Ali smiled, taking a 'bloody eyeball' cocktail from one of the waiters as she and Charlotte made their way through the crowds to try and find everyone else.
"Hey you two!" Jason said, walking over to them wearing a very nice looking vampire costume, fangs included.
"Hey, good job with the décor I love it!" Ali said, still looking around to try and find everyone.
"If you're trying to find Hanna she's over at the cocktail bar," He smiled, walking off towards a group of people.
"Of course she is," Ali mumbled, heading off in the direction of the cocktail bar. When she arrived Hanna, Caleb, Spencer, Toby, Aria, Mike and Ezra were stood there sipping on their cocktails.
"Well if it isn't double trouble," Hanna said, her eyes already sparkling from her presumably excessive alcohol consumption. Ali just smiled at her before greeting everyone else around their little table, her conversation falling on writing with Aria.
"All purple wristband holders please make your way to the parking lot. That's all purple wristband holders please make your way to the parking lot," The DJ said over the speakers.
"Guys that's us," Spencer stated, her and Toby had decided to go as Harry Potter and Hermione Grainger whilst Aria and Ezra also opted to match as Wednesday Addams and Gomez Addams. Ali looked around to make sure Charlotte was still with them, only to find her and Mike laughing away as they followed behind. She smiled, settling with walking with Hanna. It was a relief to see Charlotte having fun with Mike as it meant that she wouldn't have to keep checking on her throughout the night.
"Hey babe," Rollins said as he, Mona, Wren and a few other colleagues came up behind them in the queue.
"Hey," She smiled, but Rollins' attention soon fell on one of the other doctors who was telling some kind of horror story. As they were the executive VIP purple wristbands, they didn't have to wait long before they were allowed onto their train. As purple wristband holders they had many privileges such as free alcoholic beverages and food all night and the band playing on their train was Imagine Dragons. It was a long shot asking them to come to a small town like Rosewood, but when they found out it was all raising money for the children's cancer ward at the Philadelphia Children's Hospital they agreed without a second thought.
As soon as they got into the carriage, Hanna ran over to the champagne fountain and poured herself a glass, downing it in one before refilling it and grabbing everyone else a glass as they were already on the dance floor right at the front.
"Get these down your necks, and there's plenty more where they came from," Hanna smiled, handing them out like a waiter. She was so busy making sure everyone else was drinking alcohol that she didn't even see the band come on.
"Good evening VIPs of Rosewood, let's start the night off with one you should all know," Dan Reynolds said before the band began playing Demons.
"Oh my God," Hanna said, quickly finishing off her glass before shoving it at a waiter who was doing his rounds and pushed her way through the crowd to the front. "WHEN YOU FEEL MY HEAT, LOOK INTO MY EYES," She Screamed, flinging her arm around Ali's neck.
After another 5 songs, the band was having a set break so they all took refuge on one of the table seats in the next carriage.
"RADIOACTIVEEEEEE," Hanna screamed as everyone was mid conversation about what they were doing at Christmas.
"Hanna will you shut up! Caleb make sure she doesn't drink anymore," Spencer said, removing the champagne flute from Hanna's hand causing her to pout but she shut up none the less.
"Has anyone seen Adam?" Ali asked, walking over to the table having failed in finding her husband.
"No, I think he was towards the back of the train last time I saw him," Toby said, handing her a 'creepy crawly' cocktail.
"Thanks," She mumbled, weaving her way in and out of the crowd of people stood congregated in the aisles of the several carriages. Several carriages down, there were 3 carriages with compartments for people who want to escape the madness at the front of the train. As she walked down the aisle, peering inside each compartment, she couldn't help but feel a slight shiver run down her spine. This area of the train was completely deserted with an eerie draft present.
"Adam?" She called, opening the compartments with the curtains closed. She stopped dead in her tracks as she was almost certain she heard someone else call her husband's name. It was almost a faint whisper but she definitely heard it. She continued searching the carriages until she got to the one right at the end.
"Adam?" She called, opening the door to the last compartment. "Oh my God," She said, halting to a stop as she took in the scene before her. She found her husband alright. Found him with his tongue down Mona's throat as their clothes were scattered around the compartment like a confetti machine had exploded.
"Ali?!" He said, pushing himself away from Mona and looked at his wife almost like he was waiting for her to shout at him, lash out at him, anything – but it didn't come. Ali was just stood, staring at the two of them unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed. "Ali, please," He said, picking up his top and placing it back on before walking over to her, reaching out his arm but she moved away.
"Don't," She said, her voice involuntarily cracked as she backed out of the compartment. She slammed the door closed before she ran. She didn't know where she was running to, after all they were on a train but she ran as far away from the compartment as she could.
"Alison?" A voice asked, as she completely shoved the person out of the way. She didn't know who it was, she didn't care, she just needed to keep moving. She found refuge in an empty carriage where she leaned back against the wall, taking deep breaths to get her heart race back to normal.
"Alison?" The same voice called again, this time with concern rather than confusion. "Are you okay?" The voice asked, reaching out to hold her arm gently. As she looked up, she was met by a familiar pair of eyes, but a pair she was not expecting.
"I'm fine." She said, wiping the tears. "I'm fine, Lucas," She repeated, trying to steady her voice to make it sound more convincing.
"No you're not okay. Come here," He said, placing his camera down before pulling her into a hug. Ali almost collapsed into his arms, causing them to fall into a huddle on the floor. Over the years, Lucas had become a very successful photographer and he was obviously the official photographer for the event. He and Ali put aside their differences when he began doing a lot of promo work for Jason and The Radley and although they wouldn't necessarily be classed as friends, they were definitely on friendly terms now.
"Okay now this isn't a sight I thought I'd see," Charlotte said, looking down at the two of them on the floor however when she saw the mascara running down her sister's cheek, she instantly was on the floor next to them trying to comfort her sister.
"Ali what the hell happened?" She took Ali into her own arms, dismissing Lucas but not before thanking him of course.
"Rollins…..Mona…." She couldn't even get the words out but her sister knew exactly what she was trying to say.
"They were hooking up and you caught them? Shit," She mumbled, resting her chin on Ali's head as she rubbed circles on her back. They remained silent for almost 10 minutes, Charlotte wanting to focus on getting Ali calm.
"Ali why are you so upset? This is the perfect excuse for you to leave him. You can have Emily," She smiled.
"Trust you to be thinking of tactics when I've just been cheated on."
"Ali you said you were scared you would break his heart."
"And getting mine broke wasn't exactly the compromise I had in mind."
"Why is your heart broken when you love Emily?"
"I don't know. I have just caught my husband, who's supposed to love me, cheating on me. I guess it's the betrayal. I don't know. My head is everywhere and I just want to go home."
"Come on then, the train has already stopped that's why I came to get you," Charlotte smiled, standing up before offering her hand to her sister and helping her up. Luckily, everyone was already off the train by the time they got to the doors.
"There you are, I was worried sick," Aria said, pulling them both into a hug.
"I need to get Ali home, where is everyone?"
"Spencer took Hanna home because she was far too drunk and the boys are inside The Radley getting us a table. Why are you going home, are you okay?"
"Well if you class catching your husband cheating with his co-worker as fine then I guess so," Charlotte said, smirking when she sees Aria's jaw almost touch the floor.
"Oh my God Ali I'm sorry," She said, before Charlotte lead her away towards her house.
"If you don't want to go back there you can always come with me," Charlotte suggested as they made their way down the sidewalk on the road of Ali's house.
"I'll be fine," She whispered. As she unlocked the door, she made her way upstairs and stripped off her costume before placing a white, fluffy bunny onesie on and getting into bed.
"Here, let me take your make up off you'll get spots otherwise," Charlotte said as she began to use a wipe to take off her make up and moisturizing her face. She placed a kiss on her head before tucking her in. "Good night," She got up but a hand grabbed her arm.
"Will you stay with me?" Ali pleaded quietly, her eyes were red and bloodshot.
"Of course," She said, turning off the lights before climbing into bed next to her sister and pulling her into her arms.
"I love you Ali, all your friends love you, Jason loves you and Emily loves you," She whispered, rubbing her sister's back. When she got no reply she looked down to see Ali fast asleep. She smiled, placing another kiss on her head and closing her own eyes, letting the sleep take over her body.
A/N: Let me know what you think!