Emilia's face was stained with tears. Another of her student's mothers had been reported dead, murdered, and she had no doubt that it was all her fault. Who else could it be?

"I argued with her yesterday!" she exclaimed. Olivia and Amanda sat across from her in the interrogation room. Olivia did recall Nick mentioning the unfortunate meeting at the end of his shift at the school. "I didn't think...I would've never done anything if I knew that this would happen!"

"Emilia, this is not your fault," Amanda tried to say and got a cold snap in return.

"Then who's fault is it!? Because I'm the one this guy wants! Everything I do is under a microscope with him! It is my fault!"

Amanda's eyebrows raised together. Emilia was far too frantic to get anything out of her...but it was their job to still try.

"Emilia," Olivia tried in a softer tone, "Let's go back to that day. Maybe you saw something that didn't look important then but could be now. Anything suspicious."

Emilia shook her head on the spot. She didn't even think about it. They were better off asking Nick again. "No, no, everything was normal. Gosh, she wasn't a bad mother. She was just concerned and she was right." Emilia sniffed and rubbed her face clear of tears. "I got her killed."

"It wasn't your fault," Olivia told her.

"Then who's fault is it!?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, the man who's killing." At least her answer had Emilia pausing for a second. "He and only he is at fault here. Women are not responsible for the choices that a man makes."

Emilia swallowed hard. She tried straightening herself up in her chair. Another sniff. "I didn't see anything. I'm working. Isn't that what your detectives were for? They were supposed to see things that I wouldn't."

"Yes, but it doesn't always work."

"So then another woman's dead and we're not any closer to finding out who did it. Great," Emilia nodded to herself. "I'm not going back to work. I want to go home."

Olivia nodded. "Of course, yeah."

Emilia pushed herself up from her seat. "Can I go home now, please?"

"Sure," Amanda glanced at Olivia. They didn't expect to get much out of Emilia right now anyways. Olivia thought as much.

Emilia thanked them. "If I remember anything, I'll tell you. I promise."

"Thank you," Olivia said to her. It would be a process, just like always.

Emilia grabbed her purse off the table then headed for the door. As soon as she was out, she came across Sonny.

"Hey," he smiled kindly at her without expecting one back from her. She was too upset for anything like that.

"Can we go home, please?" She asked him, her gaze falling short. She didn't want to face anyone right now. "I mean, can you? You've been with me all day so I get if you want a break or something."

Sonny cocked his head at her. "Emilia, seriously. Despite the situation, I like being around you." He was wrong. She would smile at him. It was a small one but one he would take nonetheless.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"C'mon," he moved an arm around her, resting his hand on the small of her back. "Do you want to stop by for some food?" He would ask on the way down to the street.

Emilia shook her head. "I really don't feel like eating anything right now. Maybe for the next decade."

Sonny hated the way she sounded right now, so desolate and lost. He had to help catch the guy already. In the meantime, he helped Emilia into the car and drove her home, unfortunately without much of a conversation. All this time, as bad as things were, he'd been able to get a simple conversation at least. This time, Emilia gave nothing. Her eyes were distant and very much shiny with tears. It was a wonder she hadn't burst into sobs already and Sonny suspected that it had to do a lot with the fact she was with him. Alone would be another story for sure.

When Sonny parked outside her apartment building, he expected Emilia to start unbuckling her seat belt to rush away, but even that wasn't happening. He was sure that she hadn't even noticed the car was off. With a sigh, he got out of the car and moved around to open the door for her. Only then did she come back to life and realize where they were.

She took Sonny's hand without much awareness and stepped onto the sidewalk. "Thanks," she mumbled and started walking with him (very much like a robot).

She came back to life (again) when she heard someone call her name. Her eyes widened with horror, leaving Sonny to presume this was unwanted attention. He looked around in search of the voice but as threatening as he wanted to be, the cheery brunette coming their way didn't exactly seem like a threat to anyone...especially when she waved.

"That's my sister," Emilia grabbed a fistful of Sonny's sleeve. "Oh God, that's my—"

"Hey there stranger! Where the hell have you been?" The brunette said as she neared them, her eyes inevitably flickering to Sonny standing very closely to Emilia. "And who's…?"

"Raelyn," Emilia swallowed hard, trying to muster all the life she could find at the moment, "What-what are you doing here?"

"You haven't answered my calls," Raelyn gestured to the bag around Emilia's shoulder. "But I guess you've been busy?" Her eyes once again went to Sonny, now expecting a full answer from either or both of them.

There was no way in hell that Raelyn Hartley knew anything about her sister's case. Sonny wondered if it would make a difference for Emilia given the situation's dark turn.

"This, um, this is…" Emilia had little energy to even talk and it showed.

Raelyn's head turned slightly at her sister's behavior. "Have you been crying?"

Emilia had never felt so inadequate and much less for a simple conversation. As much as she tried to answer, though with what she wasn't sure, there was a ball forming in her throat preventing her from speaking.

"Oh my God, what's wrong?" Raelyn exclaimed, hands reaching out to her sister. She now desperately looked to Sonny for some answers. "What's happened?"

The weight shouldn't have fallen on him, he knew it and Emilia knew it, but he wasn't going to throw her into a situation she clearly wasn't ready. "She...had a tough day at work," he said, which technically wasn't a lie.

"That bad?" Raelyn searched Emilia's face to a clue of what possible could've made her put her into that state.

Emilia nodded her head. "I'm...there was a parent…" she whispered. "She, um, she went off…" Tears stung her eyes when she thought about that parent, that mother, who was now dead.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry Emilia," Raelyn pulled her sister into a tight hug.

Emilia soon wrapped her arms around Raelyn. She'd chosen to keep her family out of this case and she would continue doing it until it was no longer an option.

"That's the thing about these private schools, some parents think they're entitled to being even ruder," Raelyn said with a huff. She pulled away from Emilia, wearing a big smile on her face. "But let's turn this day around. I've got the day off so how about we have a sister-sister day?"

Emilia shrugged. It sounded better than just crying to herself. She just hoped that she had the ability not to sob so much over what was supposed to be one rude parent.

Raelyn beamed. Her eyes flickered to Sonny again. "I'm sorry, I never got your name?" Emilia soon remembered that he was right there. She turned around, face full of guilt and apologies.

Sonny flashed her a smile, assuring her that everything was fine. As for Raelyn, he extended his hand to her. "Dominick Carisi," he introduced himself, "People usually call me Sonny, though."

"Raelyn Hartley," the brunette smiled, glancing back at Emilia for a second, "I didn't know you were dating again."

Emilia's eyes widened with newfound horror, her cheeks bright and red. "Oh, we're not—"

Raelyn, being the older sister that she was, promptly ignored Emilia in favor of scrutinizing the new possible brother-in-law in front her. "Seriously, it's been a while so whatever you're doing, keep it up."

Sonny was flustered with the assumption, more so when Raelyn went on and on about the dates that she'd apparently helped set up for Emilia. It left him wondering if she was responsible for that awful blind date Emilia had been on not too long ago.

"But I can tell that you're obviously different. Picking her up from work after a hard day?" Raelyn placed a hand over her heart. "Bless your soul, you're such a sweetheart."

"Raelyn, do me a favor and shut up," Emilia commanded with gritted teeth.

Raelyn's eyebrows raised. "Yikes," she chuckled.

All Sonny could do was smile at the pair of sisters. Raelyn definitely had an effect because Emilia no longer looked distant. She was back with full force, almost like when they first met.

"Here," Raelyn turned to Emilia and dug her hand through her bag. "I'll go upstairs and leave you two to say goodbyes and whatnot."

"Raelyn, seriously—" Emilia was cut off with a wave of Raelyn's hand.

"Don't worry, I know, 'shut up'," Raelyn rolled her eyes. She threw a smile at Sonny. "Isn't she just a peach?"

"Uh, something like that," Sonny said, offering an apologetic smile at Emilia afterwards. It seemed to soften her mortified look.

"See you around, Sonny," Raelyn gave him a cheery wave and headed into the apartment building.

"I'm so sorry," Emilia said as soon as they were alone. "Raelyn's a little too much sometimes."

"Emilia, I have three sisters," Sonny reminded her. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "You think I haven't had my fair moments of sisters ruining my life?" Emilia genuinely laughed and it was like a sweet melody to his ears. He actually felt the skip of his heart. "I'm just glad to be on the other end this time," he added.

Emilia sobered from her laugh slowly, her cheeks still slightly red from the moment and the overall situation. "Don't worry, I'll set things straight with her."

"Are you going to tell her that I'm a detective who is supposed to be watching you?"

Emilia looked up at the building. That would surely lead to a lot of questions.

"Or how about the patrol car parked down the block?"

Emilia sighed. "I really don't want to. I don't need her worrying over me and then having my parents find out." Her gaze soon found him. "Would you...would you mind if I maybe not told her that? Just...kind of let her believe what she believes?"

"You mean...letting her think that we're…" Sonny trailed off. A new surge of heart filled his face. Emilia hesitantly nodded, clearly waiting to see his reaction. "I mean...I don't mind…" Sonny said slowly, "I'm not...I'm single, it...it wouldn't complicate anything…" He might just not mention that to anybody else, though, especially one Amanda Rollins who would have a field day with it.

Emilia swallowed the knot in her throat. "You're really okay with it? Because I get it's a lot to ask for…"

"Emilia, it's...it's okay," Sonny decided. Letting someone think that he was dating Emilia? That didn't exactly make him frown.

Emilia looked at him, giving him a few more seconds to go back on his decision. When he didn't, she dove towards him for a hug. She was aware that it was the second time she did this but there was a little part of her that felt special when he accepted both hugs.

"I don't know if you do this with everybody you meet but you're heaven sent to me," she said and pulled away, wearing one honest smile on her face.

Another skip of his heart he felt. Sonny let her go, though it was done rather reluctantly he noted. "Don't mention it."

Emilia stepped back from him. "I will, every time that I get to, I will. Thank you." Sonny nodded at her and watched her head into the building. Emilia didn't dare look back because she could feel his gaze on her.

Raelyn was promptly waiting inside the apartment when Emilia finally came in. She already had a wine bottle that Emilia kept hidden in the kitchen and was bringing over two glasses when she saw Emilia. "Hey there," she smirked. "How was the goodbye?" Emilia rolled her eyes, though Raelyn saw the fluster she desperately tried to be casual about. "Oh c'mon, that man is gorgeous! Why have you been hiding him?"

"I have not been hiding anybody," Emilia walked for the couch, wanting nothing more than to grab a cushion and bury her face into it. "Can we drop it now, please?"

"You'll have to eventually tell me about him," Raelyn warned as she took a seat beside Emilia. She placed one glass down to grab the wine bottle instead, having already opened it. "If it counts for anything, he seems sweet."

"He is," Emilia found herself agreeing very quickly, almost automatically.

Raelyn noticed it too judging by the smirk on her face. She said nothing about it, however, and instead handed Emilia a glass of wine. "Looks like you need it."

Emilia couldn't agree more. She took a very long drink as soon as the glass was in her hand. "Don't mention anything to Mom and Dad, please," she said afterwards. "I don't...I don't want to deal with them yet." Also not technically a lie.

Raelyn would of course take it in another way and laughed about it. "Our little secret, sure. It's brand new, isn't it?" Emilia could only nod silently. "Well, like I said, he seems sweet and I will get to know more about him," she warned. "I just need to know one thing…" Emilia groaned. She should've known this would be hard for Raelyn to let go. "Just one thing!" promised Raelyn. "That little accent...that's a turn on, isn't it?"

Emilia nearly choked on her wine. "Wh-what?! Raelyn!" Raelyn burst into laughter. Even though Emilia wanted to be angry (and possibly yell 'absolutely not!') her lips twitched into the makings of a smile. It is goddamn attracting, she admitted to herself.

"I got you, I got you," Raelyn assured her as she sobered from her laugh. "Mom and Dad won't hear a peep from me...but you'll hear tons from me!"

Emilia playfully rolled her eyes at her sister. A part of her—a tiny, itty-bitty piece of her—may have been just a little bit content with letting somebody think she was actually dating Sonny. The itty-bitty part of her made her face warm up like the sun.


Author's Note:

I totally lagged updating for months here and I'm so sorry for it and because it might happen again (although that goes for all my stories too). I've decided to go back to school and that's taking up a huge chunk of my time along with my full time job! But fret not, I've written a few more chapters to this story so it's all about editing! I've even added an infamous trope ;) (Brownie points to whoever guesses correctly!)

P.S 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:

SweetKittyCat: I'm so glad you think so! Alice is a straight A character that I love to write xD.

101297: Thank youuu!

bookyworm: And trust me, I loooove writing it!

rairiimakufui: Don't worry, Alice will not be dying anytime soon!

Dez10d2Rite: Thank you! I've got some more things in store for them! ;)