A/N: New year. New chapter. So glad to have this fandom in my life.
Chapter 16:
Pressure Points
Alison woke up at four that morning, hating the fact that her bladder existed. She very carefully pried herself away from Emily's grasp and slid out of bed. She grabbed her silk robe and slipped it on.
She stared at the brunette's silhouette, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dim room. She stood there for a few seconds watching her. Emily was sleeping peacefully for the first night in weeks. She'd never seen her look so innocent…so vulnerable.
She quietly tiptoed into the bathroom. The toilet seat felt cold against her ass. It only accentuated the fact that Emily's hot skin was no longer against hers. She quickly finished so she could get back in bed next to her and bathe in her warmth again.
As she walked out of the bathroom, an arm wrapped around her waist. Alison couldn't help but smile. She hadn't even been gone for two minutes and Emily hadn't been able to live without her.
"You up for round two?" Alison smiled, gripping Emily's hand, slowly moving it down her body.
Something felt wrong, and when she looked down she realized why.
It wasn't Emily's hand.
She jerked away. Another rough hand grabbed her arm and spun her around. And she knew. She'd only seen the grainy photo, but she knew it was him. He slapped his hand over her mouth.
"If you make one sound I'll work that pretty little body of hers right here while you watch and then I'll slaughter the shit out of her. And it won't be fast either. I'll make it nice and slow. Painful, so she feels every second."
Alison took a moment to appreciate the fact that she didn't have any urine left in her body, because she'd be pissing herself otherwise.
Before she could react he dragged her out of the room. He pulled her down the hallway.
Alison felt a mixture of fear and rage. Because this was the psychopath who had hurt her girl. And fuck anyone who laid a finger on Emily. Her fear slowly started to dissipate and her rage started boiling over. She tightened her jaw and raised her hand, forming a fist. She had every intention of slugging the shit out of him, but he grabbed her arm before she could make contact.
He roughly shoved her against the wall and leaned close to her face. She could smell the whiskey on his breath, and fuck, no wonder it made Emily sick to her stomach. It was putrid. He was putrid.
"Wrong move, Barbie." He grabbed both of her wrists and slammed them against the wall, holding her in place.
Alison felt violated and humiliated and angry. She felt insecure and angry and upset. His body was pressing against hers. And she was terrified that their clothes weren't going to remain a barrier for very long.
"Here's what's going to happen." He aggressively grabbed her jaw with one hand and pressed his large bulky arm against her throat with his other. He really leaned into the pressure, making it hard for Alison to catch her breath. "You are going to do exactly what I tell you to do or I'll punish you. And I won't hurt you. I'll hurt her. So be a good little girl or I'll make it much worse for her."
So this was what Emily had meant when she'd told her it was worse to watch her brother, someone she loved, go through pain than to go through it herself. The thought of this disgusting piece of slime touching Emily made her feel like puking.
"If you so much as lay a finger on her I'll…"
He moved his hand quickly, striking like a snake. His fist made contact with the side of her face, clipping her jaw.
Alison gasped and then blew out a surprised cry. It was strange. She wasn't sure if it was shock or if she was so scared that she was numb, but she didn't feel it.
"Don't fucking test me. You're going to do everything I say or I…"
He was interrupted when a fist landed a blow to his temple. Emily had heard Alison's cry. And she'd come in swinging.
"Get your goddamn hands off of her." Emily threw another punch.
He used his weight to hold Alison in place, but turned sideways and struck back at Emily.
"Em, run!" Alison cried frantically.
But instead of running, Emily doubled down on her attack. She retaliated hard, aggressively moving forward to physically grab him and pull him away from Alison. He dropped the blonde to the floor. Alison struggled to catch her breath.
"I said don't fucking touch her." Emily growled as she threw her knuckles into his face.
"You never learned your lesson, huh?" He curled his lip up at her and grabbed her right arm with both of his hands.
Alison scrambled to her feet.
"Don't hurt her!"
But it was too late. He held her arm firmly as he jerked his hands at an angle, snapping her bone in half. Emily screamed.
"Stop!" Alison had tears burning her eyes.
He punched Emily in the face and she stumbled back towards the stairs. Alison's eyes widened in terror. She could see it happening in slow motion and she wasn't nearly quick enough to stop it.
He threw another punch at Emily, hitting her so hard that she lost her balance. She slipped on the top step and went tumbling down the stairs.
"Emily!" Alison shrieked.
Alison heard a sickening thud at the bottom of the stairs, but before she could rush to her aid, he slammed her against the wall and knocked her to the ground. She didn't stand a chance against him, and she knew it. He sat on top of her and wrapped his hands around her neck.
He slowly started to crush her windpipe. Alison had never known how painful being choked was. It was terrifying, because not only did it hurt like a motherfucker, but her brain was panicking because her body wasn't getting the oxygen it needed.
"I warned you." He aggressively rammed her head against the ground as he continued to squeeze her throat.
She swatted at him, barely making a dent in his attack. She felt her limbs starting to go numb. She weakly tried to lift her arms and scratch at his face, but all he did was laugh at her.
"She's mine now." He grinned at her.
Alison could feel the lack of oxygen shutting down her brain. She fought to stay awake, but everything around her started to fade. She rolled her head to the side, trying to get a look at Emily one last time through the railing.
Wake up, Em. Please. Run. Get out of here. Get away from him and never look back…
It was her last thought before her vision went black. There was a strange sensation of isolation when she was in the dark. She was suspended in time. She felt like she was trapped inside of her mind and she couldn't get out.
The air around her started to get thinner. And she couldn't breathe. She felt herself fading.
She woke up clawing at her neck. But she wasn't in the hallway anymore. She'd been dragged into her bedroom.
She was naked and uncovered. She should have been freezing, but her body felt hot. She jolted upright and gasped for breath. Seconds later she felt a cold wet nose against her arm. She looked over and saw Lupo next to her. For a second it didn't register that she had a dog. She felt disoriented.
She reached around her dog, hoping that he'd crawled in between her and Emily while they were asleep. But Emily wasn't there.
Alison stared at the empty mattress. Emily was gone.
Alison scrambled, reaching for her phone to call the police. She'd dialed the number and was getting ready to hit send when she heard a noise. There was water running in her bathroom.
Seconds later, Emily walked into the room. She was in her bra and underwear, rubbing her eyes. She yawned.
"Everything okay?" Emily walked over towards the bed.
"You're here." Alison put the phone down, trying to let her nerves settle down.
"Of course I'm here. I'm a bitch, but I don't just fuck and leave." Emily shrugged. "Well, except that first time…"
She climbed in bed next to Alison. She could see the sweat dripping down her body.
"Did you have a hot dream about me?" Emily lifted her brows in a sultry manner.
She saw the look on Alison's face and could immediately tell that wasn't it. She wrapped her arms around the petite blonde. The heat of her body matched how hot Alison felt. And she suddenly realized that's why she hadn't been cold when she woke up. Emily had been holding her. Her body heat had kept her warm.
"What happened?" Emily asked.
Alison swallowed a lump in her throat and made a strange strangled noise.
A nightmare. It had been a fucking nightmare. It made sense to her now. Lupo was nowhere to be found when they were being attacked. And Emily hadn't gone straight for her gun, which is exactly what she would have done had he really broken in and threatened Alison. She would have shot him at point blank range without batting an eye.
"Ali?" Emily rubbed her thumb against the blonde's jaw.
She'd seen his face in that photo. She knew what he looked like now. And it was terrifying.
"It was him."
It was something that cut Emily to her core. The last thing she wanted was for him to haunt Alison's dreams, too.
"What?"
"He tried to…he was going to take you. He was going to hurt you."
"Hey, it's okay." Emily pulled Alison into her arms, kissing her forehead. "I'm right here."
"Is this how you feel?" Alison couldn't stop shaking. "God, how do you deal with it?"
Emily rubbed her arm and kissed her head again.
"I have you. And you have me. We'll get through this together."
Alison knew that she meant it. Emily would die before she let something happen to Alison because of her. And that's what Alison was afraid of.
"Do you think he knows about us…where we are?" Alison asked quietly.
It's something Emily asked herself every day. It's what had been driving her to want to leave when she'd first gotten to Alison's house. She still had that same drive…to leave to protect Alison. But she couldn't see any world in which she could ever leave her now.
If he did know about Alison he would find a way to use that to his advantage. He'd hurt her. He always hurt those most dear to her. It's why she had been constantly looking over her shoulder. She stayed under the radar as best she could.
"Do you think we're safe here?"
"You're always safe with me, Ali." Emily squeezed her tightly. "I won't let him hurt us."
Alison smiled and nuzzled against her. She cherished little moments like this, moments when Emily opened herself up to the idea of their love…when she held her with such care and compassion.
"Besides, you really think he could get to us here? Lupo would eat him." She looked over at the oblivious mutt, who was snoring against the sheets.
Alison smiled, kissing her neck.
"He's too busy chasing his stupid squirrels."
"One day he'll catch up with one and it will kick his ass and he won't know what to do." Emily laughed.
Alison shifted into her warm embrace and sighed. It terrified her to know how close she'd come to losing her, again.
"You could have been killed out at that warehouse, Em. I don't want you to keep putting yourself in the line of fire like that."
"I was careful. I promise you that. The only one who was in danger is the man who is lying in a hospital bed right now."
She actually had no clue whether or not Peter had survived, but she was hoping that he had…for Samara's sake.
Alison cringed, knowing that the reason that man was in the hospital bed was because she'd asked her brother for help. It could have been Emily that had taken those bullets.
"You can't know that." She shuddered.
Emily felt her shaking. She kissed her head.
"I know you're worried. I do. But I've spent my whole life running from this. I can't run from it anymore. I have to face this. I have to face him." She glanced at Alison. "Besides, what are we going to do? Never go out again?"
"Is that an option?" Alison asked curiously, lifting her head and meeting Emily's gaze.
She looked so fucking beautiful and Emily couldn't stand it.
"I'm fine with never leaving this room again." Emily leaned forward to kiss her.
She reached up and caressed Alison's cheek with one hand and laid her palm against Alison's left breast with her other.
"We could find things to do to pass the time." She lowered her lips and kissed Alison's jaw as she thumbed her nipple.
"Oh, yeah?" Alison put her hand on top of Emily's, guiding her motions against her chest. "Like what? Board games?"
"Mmm." Emily smiled against her skin, kissing lower, dragging her tongue against Alison's exposed neck. "Strip poker?"
"How is that going to work? I don't have any clothes on."
"Guess that means I win." Emily slipped her fingers down Alison's torso as she nibbled her ear.
"You've definitely got the winning hand." She exhaled a shaky breath. Winning fingers. Winning mouth. Winning everything…
Emily laughed and looked at her. Alison bit her lip and her cheeks flushed. Emily loved seeing her when she was being bashful. She was usually so self-assured, so when she batted her eyes innocently and let her guard down it made Emily feel like she was warm inside.
"You haven't seen anything yet." Emily pressed her lips against Alison's lips.
"Is that so?" Alison lifted her brows. "What else did you have in mind?"
"Truth or Dare."
Alison pushed Emily's hand closer to her pelvis. She kissed Emily, her tongue sweeping against Emily's.
"I dare you to go lower." Alison whispered, staring into her eyes.
Emily grinned seductively at her.
"Truth?" Emily pressed a kiss against Alison's chest and then moved lower. "How does this feel?"
Alison didn't know how to respond. She couldn't respond. Emily always left her speechless. All she knew was that Emily was helping her forget about her nightmare.
Over the course of the next several hours Emily made Alison forget about her nightmare over and over again. When they finished they fell asleep in each other's arms.
They kept a low profile the next several days, not just to avoid the darkness in the shadows, but to dodge reporters seeking out Emily to try and get her story about what she'd witnessed out at the docks. Peter had a stroke while he was on the operating table and he was on a ventilator, so she was the only one who could give them the scoop. But Alison was protective of her. She didn't intend to let the vultures get anywhere near her girl.
The media presence was a double-edged sword. It annoyed Alison, but it also left no room for Emily's stepfather to get anywhere near her.
He watched from the shadows and cursed the world for being populated and cursed the media for being nosy little shits. And he cursed his stepdaughter for being too fucking smart for her own good. But he knew it wouldn't last forever.
He was patient. He had waited years. He could wait out a little media circus. He knew where Alison lived. He knew where she worked. And if he knew Emily, she wouldn't leave the girl unprotected. She'd had the same obstinacy when she was a child. She was stubborn. She never did what she was told. She'd been such a little brat. It's why he'd constantly had to discipline her.
He rubbed at the scar on his face where his skin had been ripped open by a fire poker the night Emily and her brother had skipped town. His injuries actually had served him to his advantage. He'd told his buddies at the precinct that it had been a home invasion and that he'd been knocked out and when he woke up his older children were gone and his youngest was dead.
He'd threatened to kill Emily that night for her outburst. He planned on doing just that. He'd waited years. He'd gotten wind of the fact that Ethan and Emily left the country when they'd joined the army. He'd assumed she'd been killed overseas with her brother. It was a delight for him to find out that she hadn't.
He wanted to see the life disappearing from her eyes. There was nothing more invigorating than watching the light fading from someone's soul. Some people were trained to kill. Others were born to do it. It was his nature. It gave him a natural high like nothing else in life.
He was careful about keeping his distance. He knew that Emily would be paranoid after what happened at the warehouse. And to think…if he had actually showed up on time he might have seen her all alone…vulnerable. He could have gone after her. He could have killed her and dumped her in the water.
Then again, whoever had fired those shots could have taken aim at him instead. In fact, he had the sneaking suspicion that's what was supposed to happen, especially given that Emily was there. It had probably been an ambush for him. But something had gone terribly wrong. And now Emily was exposed and ready to be plucked out of obscurity.
Not much brought Alison and Emily out of the house. When Alison went to work Emily went with her to help out with the hotline. She refused to leave the blonde alone out of fear that they were being watched.
Alison was starting to look over her shoulder, too. Because she had confirmed with Jason that his friend had lost Emily's stepfather's trail. She hadn't told Emily about the whole sniper mix-up at the warehouse or about Jason's involvement. Alison knew she'd made it more complicated. She also feared she'd made it more dangerous for Emily. So she told Jason to call it off.
They were both meticulous about not letting their guard down.
Neither of them assumed that going to a three-year-old's birthday party would end up with them in mortal danger. They didn't see the harm in sparkly tiaras and unicorn cupcakes. Aria's daughter wanted to be a princess for her birthday, and Alison and Emily wanted to mark the occasion with her. She was just getting to an age where she was starting to retain information that she would undoubtedly remember later. And Emily knew how important it was for Alison to be there for her best friend and her daughter.
When Ellie found out that Alison was coming she begged her mom to let "Ali's puppy" come too. So Lupo got to come along, wearing royal attire complete with a crown strapped to his head. He hated the crown.
They walked to Aria's house, trying to get Lupo used to the outfit. He stopped at every corner to scratch at the fabric on his back.
"He looks like I feel when someone tries to put me in a dress." Emily laughed at the dog.
"Ohh, you would look really hot in a royal blue number." Alison leaned against Emily, wrapping her arm around her waist. "I would love taking it off of you."
"You are the only person in the world I would wear a dress for." Emily balanced a gift-wrapped box against her hip and moved her other hand around Alison's back.
"Does that mean you'll do it?"
"I don't know. What will you give me in return?" Emily asked.
"How about me in my birthday suit?"
"Sold to the lady with exquisitely fancy taste." Emily kissed her temple.
They had felt more in sync with each other than ever. Emily felt like she might actually be able to settle down with her.
They walked up Aria's driveway. They could hear the squeals of several children as they stomped around inside the house.
"You sure you're up for this?" Alison asked.
"My squad would regularly get drunk and swat at pinatas and jump around while pretending the ground was hot lava. They were basically full-sized toddlers. I can handle it."
Alison glanced at her hip, where she usually carried her weapon.
"Are you carrying?"
"To a child's birthday party? No. Of course not. Too much could go wrong. I already have the death of one kid on my conscience…"
"What happened to your sister was his fault, not yours." Alison rubbed her arm. "Nothing you could have done could have stopped it."
Emily didn't feel that way. She thought if she could get free, at the very least Ellie stood a chance of getting away.
"In fact, you probably would have been killed, too." Alison added.
Emily didn't say what she was thinking…that he wouldn't have killed her. Because he liked seeing her suffer. He liked keeping her around for his benefit. Alison saw the discomfort on Emily's face.
"Em, I don't know about this party…"
"I'm fine. This party will be good for me. What do you call it in psychology terms? Immersion therapy?"
"Chaos. It's utter chaos." Alison laughed.
They walked into the tiny war zone of children and were immediately bombarded because of the dog. Lupo took it in stride, rolling over almost immediately for belly rubs. Emily put Ellie's gift down on the table where all the other gifts were. She glanced at the decorations. It looked like the color pink had vomited all over Aria's house.
She admired the effort that Aria had put in for her daughter. It was something she would have done for her little sister if she'd had the money for it.
She reached out to adjust the bow on the gift they'd brought, but a loud echoing sound of a popping balloon filled the air.
The noise wasn't as loud as a gunshot, but it was definitely reminiscent of having a pistol fired at her. Alison was next to her almost immediately making sure that she was okay. Emily reached for her hand automatically.
One of the kids started to cry and ran towards his mom. The room was quiet. Emily felt like everyone was staring at her. But just as soon as the chatter had stopped, the giggles and coos over the dog started back up again.
"That was really loud." One of Ellie's friends hugged Lupo. "I don't think the puppy liked it."
Lupo looked totally indifferent, which actually made Emily laugh. He'd been subdued by the children.
"I thought I heard the unmistakable excitement of toddlers fawning over a dog." Aria's husband Holden walked in carrying a tray of mini princess cupcakes and juice boxes.
Emily had only ever spoken to him once, but he was a very nice guy.
"Daddy, can I keep the puppy?" Ellie faced her dad.
Holden looked conflicted. Alison had told Emily that Holden wanted a dog almost as badly as Ellie wanted one, but Aria still needed some convincing.
"Ask your mommy." Holden put the tray of treats down, which the kids ignored. They were too in love with Lupo to care about sugar.
Holden waved for Alison and Emily to follow him. The rest of the adults were in another room. Holden went back to the kids and let the women get together. Cece was chatting with Aria and several other women, whom Emily assumed to be the moms of the other children in the living room. Emily looked around at the other women. She felt overwhelmed. She knew she had nothing in common with them.
"You okay?" Alison asked quietly as she gently grasped her hand.
"I survived the balloon disaster. Now if I can only survive small talk."
She didn't like talking to strangers. But at least she recognized Cece.
"Where is Spencer?" Emily asked Alison curiously.
"She'll probably make an appearance later. She loves Ellie. She just…"
"Despises children, and people, in general. Especially in a crowd." Cece interrupted Alison, handing her a glass of sparkling cider. She gave one to Emily, too. She knew Emily had trouble with alcohol, so she'd been raiding the sparkling cider, waiting on Alison and Emily to walk through the door. "She'll stop by later after it's calmed down when all the little minions have crashed from their sugar highs." Cece clinked her glass against Emily's. "How have you been, Calamity Jane? Staying away from cliffs, outlaw?"
"No cliffs." Emily smiled. "You still owe me an epic crime spree."
"I'll pencil it in between my fourteen needy patients and their ridiculous requests for medical treatment."
Emily liked Cece. She knew that if anything ever happened to her the sassy outspoken blonde would look out for Alison. And that gave her peace of mind. In fact, all of Alison's friends would be there in the event that she needed them.
Aria said something to the mom-squad that made them laugh and then she sauntered away. Her tension faded as she walked away from them. They could tell that hosting and catering to the moms was taking its toll on her. She looked like she needed a drink…or twelve.
"I don't know what I was thinking." She uttered, sipping on something that most certainly was not sparkling cider. "The mommy brigade is terrifying. One of them keeps going on about gluten being poison that's going to destroy our children. God help me if they find out that the cupcakes were made with that poison."
"You're doing fine, Aria. They think you're one of them. Just keep at it." Cece winked.
"Wait until they find out my kid is just a rental." Aria looked at Alison and Emily. "Thank you so much for coming."
"Full disclosure, our gift makes noise. It's a 'Speak and Say'." Alison smiled.
"I'll just take the batteries out. No harm, no foul."
"Well, you certainly don't need to worry about that with what I got her." Cece took a sip of her drink.
"Hospital cafeteria pudding does not constitute as a gift." Aria laughed.
"You brought her pudding cups from the hospital?" Alison eyed Cece.
"Not all of us are lucky enough to get away from school debt free. Besides, kids love pudding."
"Pudding?" They heard an excited voice behind them.
They looked over and saw Ellie standing in the doorway.
"Pudding!" Ellie exclaimed. "Mama, can I have some?"
"Not right now, sweetie. We're going to have cake in just a little while."
"But I want pudding." Ellie crossed her arms in front of her chest and stormed out. Aria scurried after her to try and head off a tantrum.
"See? She loves it." Cece grinned.
Alison lifted a brow curiously.
"Oh, you can stop with the judgement. I got her a damn Barbie Jeep to ride around in, too. Cost more than my real car payment." Cece rolled her eyes.
As the party went on, Ellie got her pudding...and more. She devoured several mini cupcakes and a slice of cake, too. The adults played games with the kids. Emily had mad good aim when it came to "toss the magical ring on the unicorn horn". Alison dominated in "pin the tail on the royal steed". They danced to some of Ellie's favorite music, shook maracas, and watched the little ones play in bounce house. They sang happy birthday and Ellie opened her presents. Everyone ate more sugar than they should have before running off to play with Ellie's new toys.
"The kids all bailed on the bounce house for Ellie's brand new car," Aria said. "My toddler…going from infancy to sixteen overnight. I didn't think I'd have to worry about her on the road for another thirteen years."
Everyone looked at Cece.
"What? I got her a helmet."
"It's a great gift. She loves it. Her mother…less so."
"I thought we agreed that we're not going to be those parents who wrap our child in bubble wrap. That's how you get neurotic adults." Holden threw his arm around Aria. "Anyone else want to get in the bounce house for old time's sake?"
Alison and Emily glanced at one another. They both had some ideas of what they could do in there, but they dared not do it in the presence of children. Alison was too loud for them to get away with it.
"Wish I could. But I've got to get back to the hospital. I've got another shift starting in an hour." Cece glanced at her watch. "But this was a blast, Mama. I'm going to tap you to plan my 30th."
"I'm on it. Pony rides and face-painting it is."
"You know a stripper named Pony?" Cece lifted her brows with a laugh. "Aria, you kinky little minx."
Cece was the first one to leave. The other adults slowly started to follow suit. One by one the kids started to crash. The party started to dwindle as parents left with their sugar-dosed children.
Two hours after the party was officially declared over only Aria and her friends remained.
Spencer had swung by half an hour before the festivities had ended. She'd immediately gotten into the wine. She was careful not to offer it to Emily. Alison declined a glass. They all sat down in the living room, Emily taking the corner of the couch furthest from the door. Alison had a seat next to her.
Spencer sat in Holden's lounge chair and Aria sat on the loveseat next to the couch. Lupo was trotting around. He was following Ellie because she had icing and cake crumbs smeared all over her. She ran through the living room, giggling as Lupo chased her, licking her.
"If I had known Lupo was going to be such a hit I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to decorate and bake. I would have just slapped a birthday hat on her and had the party at a dog park." Aria laughed.
Lupo stopped at Emily's feet and sat down when he saw she had a small plate of unfinished cake in her hand. Ellie ran over to him and hugged his neck.
"I love you, puppy." She kissed his head.
Lupo licked her face and she squealed in laughter. Emily watched in appreciation. She knew she was lucky to be sitting in Aria's house seeing the joy of childhood. Even though it hurt to know that her little sister never got to experience this kind of love, it helped to know that there were kids out there that were lucky enough to have a loving family.
Emily had a fondness for kids. She always had. It was in her nature to protect anything smaller and weaker than herself. And it was a biological instinct for her mothering genes to be on overdrive, even though she wasn't a mother. So when she saw Ellie smiling up at her, she felt an internal desire to love her.
The little girl looked almost exactly like Aria. She had Holden's skin tone, his lips, and his shaggy curly hair. But everything else was perfectly Aria. Her eyes. Her nose. Her ears. She looked just like her mommy.
Ellie climbed over Lupo and up on the couch in between Alison and Emily. She naturally gravitated towards Emily. She stood up next to her and smiled.
"Hi."
"Hi, Ellie." Saying the name caused her chest to seize for a moment. "Happy birthday. Did you have fun today?"
"So much fun!" She enthusiastically waved her arms around.
She nuzzled closer to Emily and sat down. Alison watched the interaction with a smile. She'd never seen Emily with kids before. She'd watched Emily interact with Ellie in passing, but this interaction was more personal.
"What was your favorite part?"
Ellie's little brow creased in concentration. She put her index finger against her lip. Then she smiled.
"You." Ellie hugged her. "You brought the puppy."
Ellie kicked her feet and glanced down at Emily's legs. Then she peered at her exposed arms. She saw the large scars on her wrists. She puffed her lips out in a pout and poked at one of her scars.
"You have a boo boo?" She touched the raised blemish.
Aria and Alison glanced at one another. Aria had a look of embarrassment on her face. Kids had no filter, and her kid definitely didn't have a filter.
"Ellie, baby, maybe we should let Emily finish her cake."
"No. It's okay." Emily assured Aria. A child's kindness never upset her. She glanced at the curious little girl. Her eyes were so innocent. She knew nothing of the underbelly of the world. "I got hurt. But it's better now."
"What happened?"
"Ellie…"
Emily glanced at Aria. She let her know she didn't mind.
"See the girl with the blonde hair sitting next to you?" Emily asked. She looked at Alison.
"I know her! That's my Aunt Ali!" Ellie exclaimed.
"Your Aunt Ali fixed me right up. She fixed my boo boos." Emily smiled at Alison.
"I fix it." Ellie leaned down, placing a kiss against Emily's skin. "Just like mommy and daddy do for me. Is it better?"
"All better." Emily nodded.
Ellie looked around the room, oblivious to the genuine tears of joy that all of the adults were fighting back. She kicked her legs and hummed something to herself for several seconds.
"Ellie Belle, why don't you and Lupo go find your daddy? I bet he is ready to read you your bedtime story."
"Okay." Ellie didn't argue. She slid down off of the couch and walked over to her mother. She climbed up into her lap. "I love you, mommy." She hugged Aria's neck.
She proceeded to do the same for all of the adults in the room, stopping to give a hug to Spencer and Alison, too, making sure to tell them she loved them, too. She climbed next to Emily again and hugged her.
"I love you."
Emily smiled and booped her nose. Ellie giggled and then nuzzled against Emily again. Emily lifted her hand and rubbed her back. She was such a natural with her. Alison felt like grabbing Emily and kissing her. She adored her softer side. Watching Emily with Ellie had really shined a spotlight on what Emily had lost. It was heartbreaking to know that Emily had once had moments like these with her little sister, with her Ellie. But she'd never gotten an opportunity to see her grow up.
Ellie got down and tugged on Lupo's collar and he got up to follow her.
"It's bedtime puppy."
They walked out of the room.
"I should have hired her to be my therapist." Emily tried to break the tension in the room.
"Her fees are astronomical." Spencer took a sip of her wine with a laugh. "I once asked for a consult on how to fix some office drama and I had to pay her two whole ice cream cones with extra sprinkles. It was outrageous. She totally gouged me."
"How did you have office drama? Aren't you your own boss because you couldn't stand working with others?" Aria nudged her.
"No. Not with others. For others. Big difference."
"Pretty sure the people working with you feel the same about you." Alison mumbled.
"Alison DiLaurentis, was that a dig at me? Excuse yourself. Who saved your sorry ass from failing Business Law Sophomore year?"
Emily snorted. Alison turned to face her.
"Something funny?" Alison moved closer, poking her side.
Emily threw her hands up and laughed.
"No. Not at all. I'm just picturing your Kappa Kappa Highness with a bright pink binder and a glitter pen taking notes on trade economics."
Spencer and Aria howled in laughter.
"She had unicorn stickers on her binder, too." Spencer grinned.
"Hastings, I will brain you."
The laughter in the room increased in volume. They sat in the living room for a while, reminiscing, relaxing and chatting about life. It went much smoother than the last time Emily had gotten together with Aria and Spencer. At least this time didn't end with her bolting out the door.
At one point she excused herself to go to the restroom. She walked by Ellie's room on the way. The door was cracked. Holden and Ellie were sound asleep. Holden had a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar sprawled out across his chest. Ellie was on her side, her little cheek resting against the crook in Holden's neck. Lupo had managed to squeeze into the bed in between them. Ellie's arms were wrapped snugly around him. Emily could hear him snoring. She smiled.
So that's what a loving family looks like.
She heard shuffling behind her. When she turned around she saw Alison walking towards her, her index finger pressed against her lips as she quietly "shushed" her. She knew Ellie was sleeping.
"You about ready to go?" she whispered.
"Yeah." Emily glanced in the room.
Alison peered over her shoulder. She laughed when she saw them all crammed on the bed together.
"I think we're going to have to come back for the dog tomorrow." Alison smiled.
"That is if we ever get him back. She might never let him go."
Emily went to the restroom and then they walked back into the living room, announcing that they were calling it a night, but that they were leaving Lupo for a sleepover.
Spencer and Aria both whined, saying the night was still young. But they didn't know their friends were exhausted from things creeping around in the shadows.
"Let one of us drive you home." Aria offered.
Spencer held her glass up.
"I won't be driving anywhere until at least tomorrow morning." She sipped what was left of her wine.
"Yeah, I probably shouldn't either." Aria frowned. They were always preaching to others in the non-profit about the dangers of drinking and driving. "I'll get Holden."
Alison thought about how comfortable Ellie, Holden, and Lupo looked and she shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. It's just a few blocks."
"You could stay in the guest bedroom. We have plenty of room for you two and Spencer."
"The guest room is all yours. I'm probably not going to be moving from the couch any time soon." Spencer kicked her feet up.
Emily looked at Alison and shook her head. She was too afraid that she'd have a night terror and upset Ellie. And she was afraid she might wake up disoriented in the middle of the night and not remember where she was and that she'd panic and do something dangerous.
"We'll be fine." Alison took Emily's hand.
They said their goodbyes and left. Emily pulled Alison close as they walked down Aria's driveway. She'd been holding Alison a little tighter these days.
"I like hanging out with your friends. We're hanging out with them a lot more from here on out. I need to hear more about your sorority days." She tickled Alison.
"Stop it!" Alison giggled, pulling away from her dexterous fingers.
Emily slowed her pace when they got to the end of the driveway.
"Maybe you should stay here and I should go get the car and come pick you up." Something felt off. Or she was being paranoid. She couldn't tell.
"I don't think I've ever seen you behind the wheel. Can you drive?"
"I drove a tank overseas, Ali. I think I can handle a bougie 4-door with leather interior."
"I'm sorry I don't drive an armored truck." Alison rolled her eyes.
"You joke, but maybe we should look into it."
"Because nothing says inconspicuous like a giant vehicle with a machine gun propped in the front seat." Alison walked forward, holding Emily's hand, dragging her along with her.
"At least I know you'd be safe. I don't want you ending up like Peter."
"Can we just walk, please?" Alison felt guilty when she heard his name. "I don't want you out here alone."
Emily stayed close as they continued on their way back to Alison's house. She hadn't felt safe since the warehouse. She had been thinking about the night at the docks a lot. None of what happened made any sense. If Peter was the target she didn't understand why he was still alive. If she was the target she didn't understand why the sharpshooter hadn't taken potshots at her, too.
"I'm still trying to figure out what happened that night…with Peter." Emily glanced at Alison. "I've talked to his sister…"
"What? When?"
"A few days ago. It's nothing bad. She's not angry…"
"Emily, her brother is in a coma. He's probably never going to wake up. Even though you didn't do anything she might be holding some animosity towards you."
"She's not."
"And how could you possibly know that?"
"Because his little girl told her she likes me. And apparently, she doesn't like just anyone." Emily shrugged. "Besides, sister dearest knows the ballistics from my gun don't match the one that shot her brother."
"They never obtained a warrant for your gun."
"They didn't have to for her to know that. She did her own homework."
"How?"
"Come on. Look at what Peter did for a living. You really think his sister doesn't have connections? She knows it wasn't me. There was a shell casing that fell into a crack the officers missed. Whoever did it cleaned up after themselves very well. But they missed one little casing. Doesn't get us any closer to the truth, though." Emily sighed. "I just wish I knew what happened."
Alison stopped walking. The guilt was eating her alive. Emily sensed her tension. And she could sense that she felt guilty. The only question was…why?
"Alison, what do you know?" She saw the way Alison pulled away mentally. "What aren't you telling me?"
Alison's throat felt tight. How did she tell her that her actions had put a man in the hospital? How did she tell her that she'd once again been on the wrong end of the gun? She hadn't pulled the trigger this time, but she had loaded the gun.
"I did something." She looked up at Emily, her eyes full of remorse.
She took Emily's hand and started walking again, unable to look into her eyes. The air was quiet. Emily felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"What did you do?"
"When you told me what he did to you I was so angry." Every time she thought of him she wanted to kill him. "I lost my mind. I didn't mean for it to..." She sighed. "I just wanted to protect you."
Emily slowed her pace.
"Oh, shit…" Emily started to piece it together. She looked at Alison and she just knew. "Please…please tell me you didn't…"
"I asked my brother for help. I asked Jason to find him…and to make sure he could never hurt you again."
She has no idea what she's done. Emily felt faint. If he found out Alison had planned to kill him he would come at her just as hard.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know it would go so wrong." Alison felt guilty about Peter every single day. Not for him, but for his daughter, who like Emily…had witnessed something terrible happening to her father. "I just wanted to make sure he couldn't hurt you…"
"I told you to leave it alone! I told you I didn't want you involved."
"What would you have done if you were in my shoes?"
"It doesn't matter, Ali. I asked you…I begged you not to do anything." She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "You have no idea what you're getting into…" The amount of danger she was in…
She grumbled several obscenities under her breath and started pacing forward to try and keep her anger at bay. Alison quickly caught up with her, nearly jogging to keep up.
"Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the exact same thing."
"That's not the point." Emily spun around. She felt like hitting something. Alison was in so much danger. There was nothing to hit, so she just shoved her hands into her pockets. "I told you I was going to handle it."
"By getting yourself killed? I'm sorry. That doesn't work for me. You said we were going to get through this together…"
"So you went off and hired a hitman behind my back?"
"Don't lecture me. You were going to go shove a gun into his face."
"This isn't your fight."
"It is now." Alison replied, her voice coming out catty and sarcastic.
Emily's face twisted into a scowl. She let out an exasperated sigh.
"God, you are such a pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?"
"Takes one to know one."
"Oh, I didn't realize we were resorting to schoolyard taunts." Emily scoffed.
"You're the one who…"
Something in Emily's stance changed. She whipped around, her instincts going haywire. It was a feeling she'd only ever experienced on the battlefield…that sinking notion that someone was honing in on her. Alison saw the panic on her face.
"Em?"
"Shh…" She moved in front of Alison, putting her body in front of hers.
It was quiet, but it made just enough noise for Emily to hear it…and she knew immediately what it was. Even with the silencer on, she knew what the kickback of a gun sounded like.
"Get down!" Emily shoved Alison out of the way.
She hovered over the blonde, hoping that none of the bullets would hit her. Emily felt the unmistakable pain of a bullet ripping through her side, but her adrenaline kept her going. She waited for a few seconds and then she lifted a trembling Alison off of the pavement and jerked her towards the cover of the trees, away from where the bullets had been fired.
Alison was breathing heavily, still unsure of what had happened. She'd heard the loud clicks in the air and saw the look on Emily's face, but she still hadn't put it together. Gunshots for her were loud thunderous explosions. She'd never heard the sound a silencer made. She was surprised that Emily had been able to hear it.
"What the hell was that?" Alison tried to catch her breath.
"It's him."
Alison could feel her trembling. At first she assumed that it was just her adrenaline. But when she looked down she saw blood on Emily's shirt.
"Fuck…you're bleeding." She frantically reached for the injury.
"It's nothing. It's through and through. I felt it go through." She grabbed Alison.
"You were fucking shot."
"I've spent half my life being shot at. I know how to take a bullet."
"What do you mean…half your life? You mean like…before you joined the army? Jesus Christ, did he shoot at you when you were a kid?"
Another shot rang out.
"Do you really want to spend now hashing that out? While we've currently got a damn firefight trained in on us?" Emily grabbed her, pulling her close.
Before Alison could reply, Emily had swept her off of her feet and was running through the covered trails. She hoped to lose him in the woods.
Alison heard another gunshot and she shrieked and buried her face against Emily's neck, wrapping her arms tightly around her.
They got half a mile before Emily slowed her pace. She was wheezing. They stopped at a bench and Emily gently put Alison down. In the low glow of the moonlight Alison could see the sweat glistening on Emily's face. She looked clammy and pale. Her shirt had smudges of blood from where the bullet had gone through.
"You okay?" Emily searched her for traces of visible injuries.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Alison half gasped, half laughed in terror.
"What? Are you hurt?" Emily's eyes widened in concern. "Where?" She started patting Alison down. She was so sure she'd given her good cover. Had a bullet ricocheted from somewhere?
"No, I'm fine." Alison pushed Emily's hands away. "You, on the other hand just ran a goddamn mile with a gunshot wound."
"It's what I was trained to do…"
Alison lifted Emily's shirt to look at damage. More than half of her body was covered in scars, and this one just added to it. Alison expected blood and guts and gore, but all she saw was a tiny little bloody hole where the bullet had pierced her skin. She pushed Emily around to check her back and saw an identical injury there. It was the oddest thing to see a gunshot without a bunch of blood. That's what she'd seen the night she'd killed her parents. She just assumed all gunshots looked messy.
"It could have hit something important…"
"I'd be dead." Emily pulled her shirt down.
Emily looked around. The world around her started to spin. She was starting to feel her injury. She reached up and ran her fingers through her hair and then leaned over and groaned softly, holding her abdomen.
"Shit," she said, trying to catch her breath. She looked down at the street. "We can't go back to your place. He'll know to look there."
"Oh, God. What about Aria and Spencer? What if he goes after them?"
"He's after me. Plus Lupo is there. And Holden would beat the holy hell out of him before he could get anywhere near the girls. All we have to do is draw him away."
"We have to go to the cops."
"He's got the entire force in his pocket. He knows how to play them and they're stupid enough to let him. It's a fucking man's game. We need to keep moving."
"You have holes in your body that are actively bleeding." Alison growled angrily at her. "We have to get you help…" She traced her fingers along the injury.
"It just went through the muscle tissue." Emily peered at the small hole in her body. It was barely oozing blood. She only knew it wasn't a danger because she'd had an injury just like it before. "We have to get somewhere out of sight."
"What about your motel room? Have you been careful when you go there?"
"I don't talk to anyone, but that doesn't mean people don't know I'm there. If he asks the right person…"
"The room isn't in your name, right?"
"Hell no."
"And you've got your guns there?"
"Yeah. I took Ethan's gun back after you had a shit-fit about it being in the house."
"I should have told you to keep it on you."
Maybe they wouldn't be in this position otherwise. But Alison had been wary about keeping guns in the house ever since she'd killed three people in her kitchen. And Emily still had bouts of her PTSD where she lost control.
"It's not like a gun would do me much good right now anyway." Emily took Alison's hand. "I don't know where he was shooting from. I've got to find a target before I can shoot it."
Emily led the way, making sure to cover Alison to the best of her ability. Alison watched as something inside of Emily's brain took charge…a force of control that only someone with field experience exuded.
Emily's first priority was keeping the blonde safe. She used her body as a human shield for Alison.
As dangerous as the situation was, Alison felt safe in Emily's embrace. She felt impenetrable with Emily next to her.
They got to the motel unscathed. She made Alison wait in the shadows while she checked the perimeter for breaches. When she was sure that it was safe she went back for Alison and they slipped into her room.
Alison looked around the small enclosed motel room. She hadn't been there since the night she'd found Emily bleeding out on her bathroom floor. She shuddered at the thought of it. Being back made her feel like she was reliving that night. She was so sure that Emily was going to die.
Emily put her hand against Alison's arm, bringing her crashing back into reality.
"Are you okay?" Emily asked.
She had her brother's gun in her hand. Alison's forehead squinted in confusion. How had she grabbed that from the safe so fast?
Did I black out?
She'd done something similar the night her parents died.
Alison's eyes darted to the blood on Emily's clothes. It was a strange familiarity to see that shade of red. It was a weird sensation to recognize someone from the color of their blood, but she knew that if someone presented her with a selection of bloody colors, she'd be able to pick out Emily's every single time.
"That's going to get infected." Alison put one hand against Emily's hip and the other against the bullet hole in her shirt. She pushed her back until Emily was forced to sit on the mattress.
"Maybe this will exorcise the demons inside or whatever."
"Now is not the time to be a wise-ass." Alison rolled her eyes.
"Au contraire, my love, it's the perfect time. We're being chased by a mad man and half of my body has decided to give up on me." Emily put her brother's gun down on the bed.
"Well, I'm not giving up on you." Alison reached for the end table next to the bed, which had a small first aid kit.
"You should have a luncheon with my liver. Maybe it would listen to you."
"Shut up, Emily." Alison pulled out a package of gauze.
She pulled Emily's shirt up, taking a look at both the entrance wound and the exit wound. She started to clean and patch up the injuries.
She expected Emily to hiss or growl or flinch, but she didn't react at all when she doused the bullet holes in alcohol. Alison saw her skin prickling, but her face was a mask of stoicism. She gently placed a bandage on the hole in her side. She put another bandage on the hole in her back.
"I feel like half of our lives is just me patching you up in motel rooms." Alison rolled the gauze around her body and gently taped it down.
Emily smiled softly at her, placing her hand on top of Alison's.
"Not the kind of touching you imagined us doing in a motel, huh? Maybe we can still savor the night." She grinned, placing her hand on Alison's hip.
"Don't get greedy." Alison smiled, pushing her hand away. She saw Emily flinch when she pressed against her injuries. "You're lucky. It could have been much worse."
Emily knew Alison was right. And she got the feeling it wasn't luck. She got the feeling it was planned. He hadn't meant to kill her tonight. He'd wanted to scare her. To torture her. He'd done it all the time when she was younger.
"He's playing with me." She clenched her jaw.
"What?"
"If he wanted me dead I'd be dead. He wouldn't have used a little peashooter." She felt a strange tension shooting down her spine and into her limbs. "He's trying to mess with my head."
"That fucking psycho." Alison snapped under her breath. She finished dressing the injuries and let Emily's shirt fall back against her skin. "This should slow the bleeding until I can get you to Cece…"
"No. We can't pull her into this. The more people who know, the more ammo he has."
"You need stitches and antibiotics."
"I can sew myself up. Learned overseas. And alcohol serves well as both an antibiotic and an anesthetic. I'll be fine." She touched the back of Alison's hand, a mixture of urgency and intimacy in her embrace. "Whatever we do, we can't stay here. We have to move."
Alison thought about it for a few minutes. She could see that this man was a threat to Emily, and she wanted to do whatever it took to protect her.
"I have a place. My family owned a cabin just outside of town. It's not associated with the DiLaurentis name. They used it for networking. It's from one of their business revenues. It's a CEO that belonged to this group that my parents were a part of. The Carissimi Group. It can't be traced back to me, and no one ever uses it, especially in the off season. We'll be safe there. We can stay the night and then regroup…figure things out."
Emily nodded. She trusted Alison.
"Where is it?"
"The Poconos. We can take a bus out of town and from there I can call in a favor from an old childhood friend of mine."
"Is it someone you trust?"
"I've known Shana since we were three. We can trust her."
"If you trust her then so do I." Emily gripped Alison's hand. "Make the call."
Alison grabbed her phone and dialed a number.
Three hours later the two of them were walking through the front door of the secluded cabin in the woods. The place felt like something out of a period driven horror film. Still, Emily knew that it was safer than staying in town.
Emily dropped her bag, essentials she'd grabbed from the motel. They hadn't been able to go back to Alison's place. Emily knew he would be watching for them to go back.
The first thing Alison did when they locked the door behind them was call Aria to let her know that something had come up and that she was going to be out of work for a little while. She also asked if Aria would take care of Lupo until she got back.
"Not a problem." Aria replied, still high on her wine. "Holden and I have been talking about getting a dog for Ellie. It will be a good trial run."
"Thanks, Ar. I owe you one."
"Sorry, what did you say? You're breaking up…"
"I'll be back soon. Just make sure that Mona stays on her meds and Hanna eats and that Charles keeps working on his self-image. They're all doing so well…"
"They'll be fine. I'll handle everything on this end." Aria replied, and Alison could practically hear the warmth of the alcohol in her tone.
And she felt jealous of her. She was envious of the simplicity of Aria's life. Her best friend had always had it easier than she'd had it. Aria had perfect parents, a doting partner, and a beautiful child. She didn't have a brother in jail. She didn't have a suicidal girlfriend. She wasn't being hunted by a psychopath. Aria and Alison had suffered a lot of the same hardships, but somehow Aria had managed to escape the darkness.
Alison was struggling to do the same. But when she looked at Emily all of that anger faded away. All of the jealousy dissipated. Because when she looked at Emily she knew that the pain was worth it. When she looked at Emily she knew that she would do anything to bring her home safe, even if it meant loading a gun and pulling the trigger. Emily had taken a bullet for her. And Alison wouldn't hesitate to turn that bullet on the person who had fired it at Emily. She would kill him if it meant Emily would be safe.