A/N- Hope everyone is getting by alright so far this week!

I know this middle stretch of the fic is a little hard to get through. Alison getting with a guy and Emily finding another love interest isn't an ideal point in their love story. I hope you stick with me, though! This is a journey and both love interests are important in their own ways. I've tried to keep the story realistic and in my experience after a breakup, you may look for someone else to try to move on with your life, BUT it doesn't mean that your feelings for the other person just disappear. I hope it's clear in the writing that both girls still have feelings for one another, but are choosing to try to move on for the sake of their daughters and the sake of relationship with each other. Will they make their way back to one another romantically? That part you'll have to wait and see.

I see lots of plot speculation and there is a part of me that wants to tell you guys yes or no.. but I won't do that here. I just ask that you don't quit reading on me out of fear of something you don't want to happen with the characters. Feel free to message me if you need to know, otherwise I won't spoil anything.

Last few chapters were a little slow as the girls were rebuilding their relationship with each other and trying to open themselves to other people, but this chapter will kickstart most of the plot for this part of the story. Hope you enjoy!

—

Alison thought about her conversation with Mary Drake for the rest of the week.

She had committed to herself that she was going to talk to Emily about it, but found herself second guessing and dragging her feet. She wanted to open up and let the other girl in, but how would the brunette react to the information. What if the idea of Mary Drake contacting Alison made Emily skittish? What if it caused her to think that their daughters might not be safe with Alison? Should she just try to handle it herself? The same part of her that second guessed herself also talked her off that ledge of thought. Regardless of Alison's worries, Emily's opinion mattered too. The brunette deserves to know.

Each time that she talked to Emily that week, she was on the edge of telling her everything, but she resisted. She knew that the conversation shouldn't take place over the phone and she should talk to her in person.

The week went by and she continued to put it off. She considered texting Spencer for an opinion several times. Maybe she should run the story by her first? But then Alison reminded herself, this wasn't a story. It shouldn't be altered. This was her opening up and being honest. When it came time, she would everything honestly.

Emily dropped the twins off on Friday and Alison drove back to Rosewood to drop them off on Sunday. She chickened out both times. She wondered if she was ever going to get it out.

Emily was coming off of a great weekend. It was the final swim meet of the meet of the year and her swimmers did awesome. She was so proud of them and felt content that she'd really rebuilt a successful program at RHS. Her own sports dreams and aspirations were cut short, but she enjoyed helping to make her swimmers' dreams become reality. She received praise from coaches all around the swimming community and it felt great to be successful.

One person in particular who had really laid on the compliments was Casey. She and Emily had met for coffee, and then for drinks, and then had dinner over the last couple of weeks. Emily enjoyed each time with her more than the last and the other girl sang Emily's praises as if she'd been stockpiling the compliments for years. It made Emily feel happy and wanted. She couldn't help notice the warm feeling in her heart that made her hopeful for the future again.

On Monday night, Emily called Alison for their bedtime FaceTime call. Before either woman could speak, Grace grabbed the phone and loudly announced, "I counted to one hundred today Mommy!"

Emily snorted her daughter who was holding the phone so close to her face that the only part of her that made it on camera was her nose. Lily jumped out of bed and ran over trying to get her own face into the video. "I counted to one hundred and one." She upped her sister.

Grace pulled the phone away and held it on the other side of the bed. She stuck her bottom lip out with an annoyed face, "No you didn't!"

"Did too!"

"OKAY, girls that's enough," Emily interrupted, taking the phone from Grace and looked at Lily, "Back into bed so that we can read."

She didn't hear anything on Alison's end throughout the saga and eyed the phone, seeking out the blonde's picture, "Hey, you there?"

It was quiet for a second, but Alison confirmed that she was. She sounded a little distracted.

"Yeah, sorry," she redirect her attention, "Does anyone know what comes after one hundred and one?" She asked through the video.

"One hundred and two!" Grace and Lily both responded loudly at the same time.

Emily chuckled again at the girls' antics, "They've literally been bouncing off the walls since I picked them up," she warned Alison.

"Your Mom was probably giving them sweets again," Alison smirked. She could always tell when the girls were amped up on sugar.

"Is that true?" She asked the twins. Neither girl responded, but they both had tell tale little smiles. They didn't want to rat out their grandmother, but they also knew that they couldn't lie.

Emily shook her head, "I'm going to have to talk to her about that…"

"Good luck," Alison snorted. Pam had been spoiling her granddaughters since day one.

Emily knew that she was right. "Who's ready for..." she picked a random boom off the shelf, "Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza?" she asked everyone before beginning to read.

After the story, the girls started to drift off, apparently finally coming down from their sugar high. Emily slipped out of the bedroom with Alison still on the phone.

"They crashed quick," Emily commented.

"Mhm."

Emily couldn't help but notice that Alison had been uncharacteristically quiet on the other end.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She didn't want to say that the blonde seemed distracted. She would expect that given that Alison had plenty of work to get done during the week. It was more just like she didn't add much to the conversation and only spoke when someone directly asked her something. She thought back and realized that the other woman hadn't been very conversational when they crossed paths over the weekend exchanging the girls either. She hoped that she hadn't said or done anything recently to upset her.

"Yeah, I think so…" Alison trailed.

"You sure?"

"Actually no," the blonde twisted her lips and paused, looking back at her through the phone in thought before saying, "I need to talk to you about something."

"Of course, what's up?" Emily asked.

Alison shook her head, "No, I mean like in person."

It sent Emily into a mini-panic. Alison seemed really serious and it worried her a little bit. Her mind started racing through bad scenarios.

Emily was hardly listening, but Alison spoke again, "Maybe I can come to the house tomorrow night? We can put the girls to bed and talk?"

"Yeah," Emily replied, sounding somewhat dazed.

They said their goodnights and Emily walked to her bedroom. She knew that suspense was going to get the better of her tonight. What did Alison want to talk about? Was she moving? Was she dating someone? Even though Emily had been seeing Casey pretty regularly, the thought of Alison sitting her down and telling her that she was in a relationship made Emily feel sour. She hoped that wasn't what it was. They'd made it months now without any major issues, was it all about to come to a holt?

Alison woke up the next day feeling anxious. She'd taken the first step and committed to going to talk Emily that night, so she couldn't chicken out now, because the the other girl was expecting her. She knew that she could probably try to make something up last minute if she changed her mind, but she promised herself that she wouldn't do that.

Over the last few months, they had built a foundation of trust and honesty. Alison knew that being up front to Emily about this was important. If anything happened and Emily found out that Alison had been in contact with Mary Drake, she knew it would ruin their relationship.

Luckily, Alison had a full day of classes to occupy her mind. A few students dropped in during her office hours between classes, so she didn't have much time during the day to stew on what she was going to say that night. She went home following her last lecture to change into something comfortable and was in the car driving to Rosewood by 6pm.

She knocked when she reached the front door. Despite months of visits and an increasingly positive relationship with one another, she still felt like she shouldn't barge into the house without Emily letting her in first.

"Hey," the door swung opened, revealing Emily on the other side as if she'd been waiting by it. Alison noted that she looked a little nervous and realized that she had probably scared the other girl by her own demeanor last night.

Lily and Grace broke her train of thought, as they came running up to the door to greet her as if they hadn't just seen her to days ago. The women walked inside tentatively with the twins yelling and jumping around them. Emily shook her head at the antics and asked them to calm down. Her voice sounded strained and Alison began to feel bad. She definitely had gotten the brunette worked up.

They all relaxed for about a half hour before Emily and Alison got the girls changed into their pajamas. They sat on the floor reading together while the girls drifted on in their beds, and shared a smile once the twins were finally out. They rarely got to do things like that anymore in person as a family and it seemed to calm both of their nerves somewhat.

The awkwardness returned when they reached the bottom of the stairs again. Emily raked a hand through her hair and looked around.

"So do you... want a drink?" She asked Alison.

While Alison knew that it would probably calm her down, she wanted to keep her mind clear. She shook her head and they made their way to the living room.

"Sorry, if I was being dramatic about this last night," Alison apologized as they sat down on the couch.

"No," Emily offered, "It's fine..." She hoped, anyway.

It was then that Alison realized that she hadn't really planned any of this out. She racked her brain briefly, but stayed quiet, trying to think of how to start.

"Are you going to tell me that you're dating someone?" Emily blurted out.

Alison's head snapped towards the brunette. She was kind of dating someone, but that wasn't why she was here. She wasn't ready to have that conversation yet.

"Sorry..." Emily amended. She pressed her lips shut, choosing to just breathe through her nose. She wasn't sure what question would fly out of her mouth next if she herself open her mouth.

"No it's fine. It's um, it's something else actually," Alison sidestepped. She braced herself, it was now or never. "I heard from Mary Drake last week."

Emily stared back at her, brown eyes looking into hers. She nodded her head slightly.

Alison continued, "She called me late at night. She asked me not to hang up." She wasn't sure if she was defending herself for talking to Mary or not. Emily remained quiet so she kept talking, "She told me that she wanted to make amends... that she doesn't mean us any harm." She stopped when she realized that her chest was getting tight at memory of the conversation. She took a minute to catch her breath.

"That's what she told Spencer too," Emily filled the silence, her voice quiet and serious.

Alison's eyes widened, "You knew about that?!"

Emily presses her lips together again and nodded.

"Since when?" Alison asked.

"She told me in the Fall. She said that you knew too. I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it, so I never brought it up," Emily told her with a shrug.

"I really didn't... but then she called and I heard her voice and I don't know," she took a breath and looked down at her lap, "It really freaked me out."

"Hey," The brunette reached for one of her hands and held it tight, "I understand. It's okay to feel that way." One thing that Emily had learned over the years was that she wasn't indestructible. She could break.

But she could also put herself back together.

Alison stared at their connected hands. She couldn't believe that Emily hadn't said anything to her before about this, but then again.. neither had she until she'd heard from Mary herself. "What do you think?"

"I thought about it a lot for the first few nights after she told me," Emily revealed. She shook her head, "I hardly slept. I'd constantly walk down the hall to check on the girls."

Alison sat quiet. She'd been feeling the same way in the months since Spencer had told her. She was constantly looking over her shoulder. She felt like she'd been doing that her whole life.

"What about now?" She asked the brunette.

Emily let go of her hand and shrugged. She folded her hands back on her lap. "I don't know for sure... but I do know that I don't want to live like that. In fear."

Alison pursed her lips, "I don't either. She sounded so sincere, and it made me want to trust her. I don't know if I can do that though."

"Oh, I definitely don't trust her," Emily laughed, though there wasn't any humor in her tone. Alison found solace that she wasn't only one struggling to believe the woman's intentions.

"It's just... after everything with Alex..." Alison shook her head and closed her eyes. That was what really had Alison so unsettled after the call- Hearing Mary's voice made her think of Alex. And when she thought of Alex in Beacon Heights, all of the emotional turmoil came flooding back.

Emily saw the look on her face and reached out for her hand again, causing Alison's eyes to open her eyes back up at the touch. "I'm so sorry for what you went through," she told her solemnly, "I know that you don't talk about it, but you know that you can, right?"

A tear slipped out and slowly trailed down the blonde's eye as she thought about the months of mental games that she and the others at BHU were forced to go through. "It was terrible, Em," her voice cracked, "like a living hell."

Emily looked down at her lap, she hated seeing Alison cry. "That's what you've said before...what did she do to you?"

She wasn't sure if the blonde would answer, because she'd never detailed it before. The case was largely kept out of the news because Alex was technically supposed to have already been arrested. All that Alison had told her was that Alex had put them through mind games and basically tortured them. None of their friends knew anything either. She'd always stuck clear of the topic before, but she wanted Alison to know that she could tell her. Emily knew that she could be there for her.

A few more stray tears slid down Alison's face and she let go of Emily's hand to wipe them. The debacle in Beacon Heights had nearly broken her and she had never felt like she could articulate everything that happened... until now. She wanted to open up about it and if there was anyone who she trusted to open up to it was Emily. It was time to start letting go of that chapter and this was the first step, so she started talking.

They talked for over an hour. Alison detailed all of the mind games and psychological torture that she and the others were put through at the hands of The Professor, Alex's new alias. As it turned out, Alex must have gotten some of her tricks from Charlotte because Emily had recognized several of the tactics from the dollhouse. Emily had never opened up about that to Alison when they were together.

It was an emotional conversation for both of them, but they felt closer to one another as parts of their lives that had previously been kept in the dark were brought to light.

When they felt talked out, Alison peaked at the clock. It was somehow almost 10pm. She ran her hands along her thighs, "I can't believe how late it is. I should probably get going."

"Ali, I don't think you should drive right now," Emily shook her head. She didn't want the blonde driving alone in the dark.. not after the emotional talk that they had just had. "Why don't you stay here tonight?" The in the guest room part was implied.

Alison nodded. She was actually pretty wiped out and the drive back to Rosemont wasn't something that she really wanted to do at this point.

"I think I'll take you up on that."

"Good," Emily smiled, "I'm really glad that you came tonight and we had this talk. It means a lot to me that you trusted me with that. It's starting to feel like all of the secrets are finally behind us."

Alison looked at the other girl and offered a half nod. She had left out one thing from their talk and now it didn't feel right to keep holding on to it.

"There's one more thing, Em."

"What's that?" Emily asked.

"I found out something while I was there... something that we said we said weren't going to find out," she averted her gaze from the brunette's. She'd known the truth now for two years, and she felt guilty every time the thought crossed her mind.

"About the donor?" Emily asked slowly. It was a guess, but she had a feeling that she was right.

Alison nodded, "One of the little games that Alex played with me revolved around it. Somehow it was like she knew that I wanted to know."

"I thought we said that we didn't want to know," Emily pointed out.

"We did, but it scared me..not knowing," Alison confessed, "I was paranoid that it was someone that we knew or someone who would come back for the girls."

Emily stayed silent. She'd had the same worries over the years, but had always done her best to try and push them out of her mind.

"She had this set up," Alison explained, "I was hooked up to a heart rate monitor and she gave me a big book. When I opened it, it was different people from the past.. it showed which features might match up with Lily and Grace. I think that she wanted to know which person scared me the most." She paused and closed her eyes at the memory. It was terrifying to think of the possibility that Alex had fertilized the eggs with sperm from one of their enemies.

"I told Mona about it one night and it turned out that she knew who the real donor was. I guess she had gotten it out of Alex when she had her and Mary in Paris." She looked up again into Emily's eyes and told her sadly, "When I had the opportunity to ease my mind, I took it. I asked her to tell me."

She let the backstory hang out out in the air for a moment. She searched Emily's face, "Are you mad at me? For finding out?"

Emily inhaled through her nose. A part of her was annoyed that Alison had not only found out, but had been sitting with the information for who knows how long now. At the same time, she knew from experience that it wouldn't be productive to dwell on that aspect. After all, it was kind of a big deal that Alison was telling her at all. They had come a long way in the last eight months.

"No. Not really." She shrugged, "If I had been in your position and had the opportunity to find out, I might have".

"Well you do now..."

Emily shook her head, "I don't need to know right now."

"Why is that?"

"Because you know.. and that's enough for me," she smiled at the blonde, "I trust you."

Alison's eyes widened at the words.

And Emily did trust her judgement with what she did with the information. She knew that if the donor was some kind of threat that Alison would protect their daughters. She doubted that the person was still alive, but if they were she didn't need to know too and have something else to obsess over.

Alison reached across the cushion and took Emily's hand again. They sat in silence for a few moments, coming down from the long talk and internalizing everything that was said. When they stood up to go to bed, Alison didn't let go of the brunette's hand. She couldn't help it anymore, she wanted to feel close to her after their conversation. She pulled the other girl in for a long tight hug, silently thanking her for bringing her comfort and giving her the trust that she had desperately wanted for so long.

—

They next morning, Alison took it easy. She emailed her TAs and asked them to handle her morning classes. She and Emily made breakfast for the girls and she helped the twins get dressed and ready for their day. It was nice for Emily to have a little break from her morning routine and Alison appreciated the opportunity to take part in it for herself. She offered to take the girls to school and Emily happily let her take that off of her hands.

Later in the day, Emily drove over to her mother's house to collect the girls. Pam almost always picked them up because Emily was stuck at the school most days past three, but now that swim season was over, she was able to get them early enough that she could spend the whole evening with them.

She let herself in and found the three of them in kitchen. Lily was sitting at the kitchen table, shaking sprinkles onto freshly frosted cupcakes while Grace and Pam were over by the sink. Pam was washing some bowls, and when she turned Emily caught a glimpse of Grace sitting on the counter, licking chocolate off of a big spoon unapologetically.

"Busted…" Emily looked at her four-year-old.

"Mom, what did I tell you about giving them too much sugar?"

"Grandmas can do whatever they like," she tickled Grace's leg and the little girl giggled through the spoon. Pam walked out of the room towards the living room to gather up the girls things for her daughter.

Emily followed behind her, rolling her eyes but chuckling none the less. Alison was right, this was probably a lost cause. She tried to play serious though, "They've been so hyper at bedtime this week."

"Is that why Alison was there last night? To help you with bedtime?" Pam asked innocently, but Emily knew better. She figured that the girls would mention that Alison had been at the house with them last night and this morning.

"She did help with bedtime.. and then had a long talk about some things," Emily told her honestly with a shrug. "It was late, so it just made sense for her to stay the night."

"So you two just… talked?" Pam asked with the slight raise of a brow.

Her mother was way too nosey. It annoyed Emily sometimes, but she did her best not to be angry. Pam has been there for Emily and Alison before the twins were even born, and even now she was heavily involved in Emily, Lily, and Grace's lives. It wasn't her mother's business, but because she played such a big part in their lives, Emily understood why she tried to to butt in at times.

"Yeah, that's all," she folded her arms. She could tell from the way that her mother was eyeing her that she didn't believe her. She ran a hand through her hair, "I'm actually kind of dating someone," she divulged.

That one threw Pam for a loop, and the older woman cocked her head, surprised that not only was Emily seeing someone but that she was actually telling her about it.

"Who?!"

Emily laughed, "Do you remember Casey Little from swimming when I was younger?"

"Vaguely… red hair?"

"Red-ish," Emily laughed. "Anyway, we ran into each other at a meet about a month ago. We've been on a few dates," she nodded with a smile, "it's going well."

"Well I'm.. happy for you," Pam smiled. She had been surprised at the information, but ultimately was happy to hear anytime that her daughter was happy.

The silence lingered for a minute and Pam asked, "What about Alison?"

Emily frowned, "What about her?"

"Well I mean… Is she dating someone too then?"

"I…" Emily thought for a minute. The question had crossed her mind plenty of times over the past few months and even more times recently. She had considered asking her friends if they knew anything, but didn't want to invade Alison's privacy. Plus, she wasn't sure if it was information that she was ready to hear, despite her own activities. "I don't know," she told her.

"Hmm," Pam nodded, "will I be seeing Casey?"

"Oh no, not yet," Emily shook her head rapidly, "We're still getting to know each other."

"Just checking," Pam smiled. She finished collecting the twins' school bags and they walked back into the kitchen so that Emily could take the girls home.

As the weeks passed, Emily continued to go out with Casey. She enjoyed reconnecting with her and it turned out that they still had a lot in common. They didn't see each other much during the week, but they did fun things together on the weekends. This connection was different than those that Emily had experienced during the months that she was tapped into the dating sites. Nothing between them felt awkward or forced. The connection felt real and natural. For the first time in about two years, she actually felt more than hopeful for her romantic future. She felt like she was actually building something.

The feeling that came so easily for Emily to have with Casey was what Alison had been trying to get to with Sam. They'd been seeing each other for almost five months, and while she felt like they were building towards something, she wasn't quite sure what that was. The pace was definitely slower than most relationships. Not only that, but she also felt like she and Sam were moving at a disproportionate pace. She'd told him from the get-go that she wasn't looking for anything serious, but she knew that he viewed her as his girlfriend.

Which she wasn't.

Once, he'd mentioned an event at the convention center that was set for a Saturday afternoon and asked if she wanted to go.

"I would," she'd told him, "but I've got the girls all weekend."

"I know," he smiled nervously, "it's actually a family-friendly event. I think your girls would have fun."

She had to sit him down and tell him that she just wasn't ready to bring the girls into the mix yet. She and Emily were pretty specific when they set the terms of asking for permission before introducing the girls to a significant other. And even if they hadn't laid that out, she and Sam weren't even close to the point in her mind.

Still though, she couldn't help but appreciate the sentiment. It wasn't that he smothered her or tried to force the idea of taking things to the next level together, she just felt bad that she didn't feel the same way. She thought that in time she might though in time, and if he was willing to be patient, she could be too.

He was incredibly sweet and thoughtful. Somehow, he could pick up on when she wasn't having a great day and was great about cheering her up. He'd always struck her as very simple and straightforward. She hadn't found that his charm had any kind of hidden intentions and he always told her what he was thinking and feeling. One thing that she noticed was that he was always asking about her daughters. She appreciated him asking and being interested in her life, but eventually she learned that it was more than just that.

One night in early March, she was finishing up her bedtimes stories with the girls while he patiently waited quietly on the couch out of view from the camera. It wasn't the first time that he had been at her apartment while she did that, but he still watched her with a tender smile as she said goodnight to Lily and Grace.

"I love listening to you talk to your daughters," he told her after she hung up, "You're a really good mom."

She smiled, somewhat embarrassed. She didn't conceal any part of the conversations from him and talked to the girls and Emily the exact same way that she would have if he hadn't been present.

"How do you know that?" She asked as she sat down next to him. She had been back in Pennsylvania for about nine months now and was doing her best at parenting, but doubt crept up every once in awhile.

"They clearly adore you. They sound so excited when you're on the phone with them. I can hear them hanging onto every word you say. It's really sweet," he smiled.

Alison snorted, "I don't know if sweet is a word that anyone has every used to describe me."

"I don't believe that at all," he raised his eyebrows.

"I used to be a lot different…" She said quietly, "Back in high school I was pretty much the opposite of sweet."

"And that was, what? Ten years ago?"

"Sometimes I think that people will always see me that way," she shrugged sadly.

"People change, Alison," he shook his head, "I mean… I wasn't the way that I am now back when I was in high school. I did a lot of things back then that I'm not proud of."

"And I don't believe that at all," she mimicked. He was effortlessly nice and thoughtful, she couldn't remember ever hearing anything bad or mean come out of his mouth in the time that she'd known him. She couldn't imagine him being someone like Ian Thomas or Noel Kahn.

He looked down at the floor, "Well it's true," he told her quietly.

She constricted her eyebrows, "What could you have done that was so terrible?" Whatever it was, she was pretty sure she could top it. Not that she was bragging, but she was chronically aware that she had done some awful things.

He took a breath and looked back up at her, "I was really self-absorbed back then. I was an only child, had good grades, lots of friends, a baseball career, I thought I was going places and… nothing was going to stop me," he twisted his lips and shook his head at the words.

"Well you were going places. Look at you now," she said. By all regards he was a successful Ivy League graduate with a thriving career.

"Yeah, but what I didn't understand was that it wasn't all about me. Other people mattered too." She wasn't sure where he was going with that or what to say, so she let him keep going. "Right at the end of the summer before I went to college, I got a girl pregnant… I didn't know what to do, I went to my parents for help. They said they'd take care of it, and I went away to school like nothing was going on," he shook his head regretfully.

"So… do you have a child...somewhere?" she asked.

He shook his head slowly. She'd never seen this side of him before. He looked ashamed, and much different than the confident guy she'd spent months getting to know.

"My parents gave her money, they tried to buy her off I guess. She tried to get in touch with me, but I didn't take her calls for months. I was avoiding the problem, but then over Spring Break I came to my senses and realized that I needed to step up, so I tried to get back in touch with her."

"What happened," she asked.

"She had ran away… she didn't want my parents money and she didn't know how to face her own parents. No one had heard from her in months and then," he inhaled sharply through his nose and shook his head, "and then she turned up dead."

It was heavy and Alison didn't know what to say. She wanted to ask what happened to the poor girl, but she couldn't bring herself to.

"I knew it was my fault. I was really depressed for a long time. The guilt ate away at me… I just kept wondering what kind of person does that- what I did."

"What happened wasn't exactly your fault," Alison pointed out.

"She would still be alive if she had never met me," he told her, "I've got to live with that. Eventually I picked myself up and moved on, but I still think about it even now. Things could have been a lot different."

"I'm really sorry, Sam." She felt heartbroken for the girl whose life was cut short and for how guilty he felt over his actions as a teenager even after all this time.

He shook his head, "I didn't tell you that to make you feel bad for me. I just know what it's like to regret the person that you once were, and I don't want you to judge yourself for what you did when you were younger. If I did that, I'd still be curled up in a ball somewhere."

"Is that why you always ask about my kids," she wondered.

He gave a shy smile, "I guess kind of. It also seems like maybe you had kids before you were ready, but you're still there for your family. I respect that. It's something I wish that I would have done for a lot of reasons."

"I think you'll be a great dad someday," she told him and leaned in to give him a kiss. It seemed like he needed it.

Up until this point, their relationship had been light and fun. They knew enough about each other, but rarely got deep. Despite the poor choices he had made in the past, she felt closer to him because he told her. She hadn't shared a ton of her own past with him, but after hearing Sam be so opened, she felt like maybe she could open up someday too. Not now, but maybe sometime.

She felt optimistic, not exactly for their future together, but about her own future. She didn't have to be the girl that she was in high school. People can and do change. She was also again reminded that openness and honesty breed trust. She felt isolated over the years keeping secrets. She was seeing now between her experiences in Beacon Heights, her reconciliation with Emily, and Sam's willingness to share that being open was the key to healthy relationships.

Sam looked at his watch, "And now, I've officially made us late to dinner," he stood up and she followed he lead. She didn't mind. The conversation had been worth it to her. For the first time, Sam had given her something more than good company, he'd given her perspective.

Their dinner ended up being much lighter than their conversation had been. They had drinks, he made her laugh, she ordered desert. It had turned into everything that a date night should be.

So she shouldn't have been surprised by what happened next.

Their drive home started out normal. They had turned the radio up and he was singing an eighties song out loud as they cruised the streets of Rosemont. He didn't see the black SUV that came flying around a corner, ignoring the stop sign. There was no way that either of them could have seen it coming.

And there was nothing that he could do when it smashed into the passenger side of his car, right where Alison was sitting.

—

A/N - Well… lots to unpack here. Looking forward to reading your thoughts!

Stay safe and take care of yourselves!