thank you for the reviews, but please, to the person leaving me the same review twice an hour, I ask you to please refrain to only posting one per chapter. thank you.

also note, i'm starting school again so i won't be able to update as frequently as i have been. school is a top priority for me.


On Sunday night, Emily sat on her bed trying to decide on what she was going to wear to the small party in honor of her turning twenty-four. She didn't feel any different now being 24, she felt the same as yesterday. It was the same every year, she always felt the same. People always made a big deal about birthdays, and Emily always thought you were supposed to feel different when you turned a year older.

Even though her friends were due to show up in about ten minutes, Emily still sat on her bed with her bathrobe wrapped around her body. Her hair and makeup was done, but the outfit laying on her bed didn't seem right. Standing up from her bed while trying to keep her balance, she pulled out a maroon sweater and dark colored jeans instead. She sat back down and began carefully putting on her clothes, sliding her leg brace on after it.

Checking herself in the mirror of her bedroom, Emily glanced briefly to the side to examine her bookshelf. She had already reread a few of the books that were stored on the shelves, mostly collecting dust in the last five years. Looking at the top shelf, four thick and long books stood, each in a royal blue. Written on the side of the binding was, "Rosewood High Yearbook" with the corresponding year. There was one yearbook for each of the years that Emily attended Rosewood High, she hadn't touched them in years.

Getting up from her bed, she hopped on one leg over to her bookshelf and pulled all four of the books down from their shelf before making her way back to the bed. Starting with the one from her freshman year, which was now nine years old, she opened to the inside cover. Signatures and messages in different colored pens and markers were covered on the inside of the yearbook.

Emily read through a few of them, looking at Toby's horrible scrawl which he still had as he tried to write a barely legible message to "Em Dog". Next to Toby's in sparkly pink gel pen was a signature signed by "Ali D." Emily read her message, it was short and simple but wished her a good summer. Flipping through the pages of the yearbook, she found the freshman yearbook photos. Avoiding her own, she found Alison's photo. If there was one thing that everyone could agree on about Alison, it was the fact that she still looked exactly the same nine years ago. Sure she did look older now, but at the same time she still looked fifteen years old.

Closing her freshman yearbook, she opened the sophomore yearbook. She searched the inside cover for Alison's signature but found none. Trying to remember why Alison never signed her yearbook in sophomore year, she remembered Alison didn't go to the last day of school. Her family had already left for their summer home in New Jersey, a summer town called Cape May. Emily glanced briefly yet again at Alison's yearbook photo, her award winning smile causing her faint dimples to become visible, and made her blue eyes sparkle.

"Emily! Someone's here! It looks like Spencer!" she heard her mom call from the bottom of the stairs.

Snapping her sophomore yearbook closed, Emily grabbed her crutches and rose from her bed. Leaving them behind to look at later, Emily left her bedroom and made her way towards the stairs.

To get down the stairs faster, Emily sat down on her butt and slid down the stairs one at a time at a quicker rate. By the time she reached the bottom and propped herself back up on her crutches, her mom was opening the door to allow her friend Spencer inside.

Spencer was wrapped warmly in a black wool coat that ended passed her waist. Her cheeks were slightly red from the cold, and her breath fogged as she smiled at Emily from the doorstep. She was carrying a large gold wrapped present in her arms, with a plate of brownies wrapped in plastic wrap on top.

"Hey!" she said brightly, her brown eyes lighting up as she stepped through the threshold of the house. "Happy birthday!"

"Spencer!" Emily smiled. "It's so good to see you!"

"I can't believe I'm the last person to actually see you it seems." Spencer remarked, letting Pam take the present from her arms. "Can I give you a hug or will you fall over?"

"I'll let you know if I start to lose my balance." Emily said. "Come here and give me a hug Hastings."

Spencer quickly wrapped her arms around Emily tightly, Spencer was always the best hugger of her three friends. Coming in right behind her, Hanna entered in a similar coat but in a cream color.

"Did I interrupt a little Spemily reunion or something?" Hanna laughed, carrying a large present wrapped in navy blue paper. "Happy birthday Em."

Releasing Spencer from her grasp, Emily quickly wrapped her free arm around Hanna to pull her into a hug.

"If you don't mind, can we close the door before we let all the cold air in?" Pam requested politely, taking the present from Hanna.

"Of course, Mrs. Fields." Hanna said, closing the door behind her. "Aria here yet?"

"Oh you know Aria, always a little late." Spencer said.

"Do you guys want to come into the kitchen while we wait for her?" Emily asked, motioning to the kitchen behind her. "There's wine but I bet my mom has other things if you prefer."

After taking off their coats, Spencer and Hanna followed Emily into the kitchen. Emily quickly moved to sit down on one of the barstools by the island, her arms already hurting from being on her feet the whole day.

"Do you want a glass Emily?" Spencer asked, grabbing the bottle of wine that was sitting on island counter and the bottle opener.

"Uh, no. I'm on a bunch of meds with my leg and all, and I've already sort of witnessed what happens when you mix pain medication with alcohol." Emily said, glancing at Hanna who had a small look of relief on her face.

Spencer poured she and Hanna a glass of wine, talking to Pam as Emily's mom prepared dinner. Hanna leaned on the island, propping herself up on her elbows as she sipped her wine.

"After four years of having the same haircut in high school, I'm surprised you got bangs Spenc." Hanna remarked, sipping her wine.

"Yeah well, I wanted change. I can't look like a high school student for the rest of my life." Spencer said, sitting down on the barstool next to Emily.

The front door opened again, with no knock this time. Emily could see the front door from where she sat in the kitchen, and leaned to the left slightly to see who entered.

"Sorry I'm late!" Aria called, holding her present for Emily. She waved slightly at the girls as she began taking off her coat. "Traffic."

"On a Sunday night Aria?" Spencer asked. "Get in here, I'm pouring you a glass of wine."

Aria entered the kitchen and smiled brightly as she came behind Emily to give her a hug. "Happy birthday you." she said. "Now not all of us are twenty-three."

"This is nice, just the four of us. None of our significant others here, it's just us." Hanna remarked. "Just like the good old days."

Emily sipped her water, "Same as it never was. If I remember we were all dating someone in high school."

Hanna shushed Emily, "Don't ruin the moment, Em."

The girls continued to chat as they ate cheese and crackers, talking about their lives now that they were out of high school. They were laughing pretty hardly at Hanna's encounter with her old science teacher at the grocery store earlier that day, when the front door opened and Emily's father entered.

He had a maroon hat on over his head, a similar scarf wrapped around his neck, and a brown coat.

"Pretty sure it's cold enough to snow out there." he said, kicking off his boots and setting down his briefcase.

"Think it'll snow before Thanksgiving?" Aria asked, turning back to the girls.

"Doubt it." Spencer said. "Remember when we would place bets on when we thought the first snow would be?"

"Yes Spencer, that's exactly why I'm bringing it up." Aria said. "I want to bet on when it's going to snow, just like the good old days."

"How much did we used to bet? Like five dollars?" Hanna asked.

"Hey it was pretty fun if I remember." Emily pointed out. "We literally would try to convince the other that a piece of dust was snow so that we could win."

"Alright, alright. Place your bets right here, I'll type them in on my phone." Spencer said, pulling out her iPhone. "How much are we each betting?"

"Five dollars." Emily said.

"No! We were such amateurs!" Hanna rolled her eyes. "I think it should be fifty."

"Fifty dollars? Are you nuts Hanna?" Aria's mouth dropped open. "I'm only putting in ten."

"Yeah Hanna, no way am I doing fifty." Emily said.

Hanna rolled her eyes again, "Fine, but when you guys complain that you didn't win that much, don't complain to me."

"Right, so ten dollars. Emily when do you think it's going to snow?" Spencer asked.

"The first week of December." Emily said, watching Spencer type it in.

"Hanna?" Spencer asked.

"The week after Thanksgiving." Hanna said, sipping her wine. "You bitches watch."

"I want the week before Thanksgiving." Aria said. "Come on I have the faith."

"I'm going for December 10th." Spencer said.

"Why so specific?" Aria asked, her eyebrows crinkling.

"To make it harder since I won every year back in high school." Spencer said.

They continued to chat more as Emily's dad came into the kitchen to wish her a happy birthday and kiss her on the forehead.

"Alright ladies, I think dinner is ready. I made steak with potatoes and asparagus." Emily's mom said, turning off the stove.

"It smells delicious Mrs. Fields." Spencer remarked, grabbing one of the plates that was sitting on the table.

The girls serve themselves and made their way into the dining room of Emily's house.

"So where's Miss Olivia Fields?" Spencer asked, as they sat down to eat. Her parents decided that they would leave Emily and her friends alone for her birthday.

"Oh I think she's at one of her friends houses. She's supposed to be home soon since she has school tomorrow." Emily shrugged, taking a bite of her steak.

"You're mom makes the best food, why don't I just live with you for the rest of my life?" Hanna groaned.

"You know you're always welcome to come over with Caleb." Emily smiled.

They continued talking, the bottles of wine the other three girls were drinking were making them louder than usual.

"So Emily, see anyone special since you've been back?" Spencer asked, bumping her arm into Emily's side.

"What?" Emily asked, smiling slightly.

"Which Rosewood bachelorette do you have your eyes on? Or is it the other way around?" Spencer asked.

Emily let out a breathy laugh, "There's no one." she lied.

"Oh really?" Aria asked in a sing song voice. "Somehow I don't believe that."

"No really, I don't like any non-taken woman in Rosewood." Emily said. "Is it that hard to believe?"

They finished their dinner and brought their plates over, already arguing over who would give Emily her present first. In the end, Hanna was the one who got to go first and set her present down in front of Emily as they ate her chocolate birthday cake.

"I wonder what's inside." Emily said sarcastically, shaking the box. There was a heavy clunking coming from inside, and from the way the box was shaped, she knew what was inside.

Ripping back the paper a lot faster than she did with Alison's present, she removed the navy blue paper to reveal a shoe box.

"How did I guess?" Emily smirked, opening the lid to reveal a pair of black ankle boots with a heel. "You always get me the latest fashion."

"Do you like them?" Hanna asked. "They also came in a cream color, but I figured that black was more your color."

"Well you're right there." Emily said, moving to give Hanna's hand a squeeze from across the table. "Thanks Han."

"Okay, my turn." Aria said, pulling her present out. It was small enough to fit in both of her hands as she passed the pink wrapped box over to Emily.

Emily took the box from her hands and tore back the wrapping paper. Underneath the wrapping paper was a dark brown wood box. It smelt faintly old, like something you would find in your grandmother's house. Taking the rest of the wrapping paper off of the box, Emily realized the box had a latch on the top. Opening the latch and lifting the lid to the box, a tiny ballerina sprang up from the box and began rotating in a circle to a music box version of "Danny Boy".

"I got it at the vintage store here in Rosewood." Aria explained as the ballerina slowly danced in a circle. "It was made in Ireland in the early 1900's."

"Wow Aria, this is really beautiful." Emily said, looking at the faded portrait of the Cliffs of Moher. "Is this handpainted?"

"I think so." Aria nodded. "I'm glad you like it, you can wind the music box in the back."

"Don't think I'm going to be able to beat that, but here." Spencer said, lifting her box onto the table as Emily took a bite of her cake and placed Aria's present to the side.

The large box in front of Emily looked rather intimidating, but she ripped the gold paper off none the less. Underneath was a cardboard box, which she opened the flaps to easily. Having to stand up to see what was inside, Emily saw stacks and stacks of paperback books inside the box. At the top of the pile that was visible to Emily was, "Catcher in the Rye" and "Of Mice and Men."

"They're all classics that I thought you would like." Spencer said, as Emily began taking out books to view the titles. "It's for something to do, you know since you have a lot of time on your hands now."

Emily pulled out two more books, "Flipped" and "Great Expectations." She smiled at the Great Expectations book in her hand, glad she didn't have to keep stealing Olivia's.

"This is all great stuff." Emily said, sitting back on the chair as she started to lose her balance. "Thank you Spencer."

It was late by the time the girls decided to go home, each taking decent sized pieces of leftover cake home with them. Emily hugged each girl tightly, thanking them for coming and spending time with her. Hanna was the last to hug Emily, giving her an extra tight hug and rocked slightly. When they broke apart, Hanna was frowning.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Where did you get that?" Hanna asked, pointing to Emily's neck.

Emily tried to look down, realizing her Emily necklace was clearly visible. "Oh, I got it yesterday. It's better than wearing dog tags, you know?"

"Yeah…" Hanna said, though she didn't sound convinced. "Good night Em."


On Tuesday evening, Emily approached the front door to Alison's house. She could hear people on the other side, talking and laughing. Emily sighed as she took in the house. It was a fairly bigger than her own, and was light gray in color. The shutters were dark blue to match the front door of the house, everything was almost too perfect and too big for just two people to live in.

Opening the front door, Emily made her way inside and closed the door behind her. The people talking and laughing got louder, making Emily already start to feel uncomfortable. She doubted if she should've gone to Alison's house, but remembered that Cece wanted to see her.

"Hey! You made it!"

Emily turned her head to see a woman with blonde hair step into the front hallway with a bright smile on her face. Emily instantly beamed upon recognizing the girl, opening her arms as the blonde practically ran her over.

"Hey Americano!" Cece said, hugging Emily tightly. "It's so good to see you!"

"Same to you Cece!" Emily smiled wider. Tipping over slightly, Emily pulled back so that she was able to steady herself. Cece, realizing Emily's instability, let got but held onto her forearms to help Emily balance herself. "Thanks."

"So how you been Fields?" Cece asked. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No I'm on antidepressants and painkillers, alcohol would mess with that." Emily said, shaking her head.

"Well duh, I'm not stupid Emily. I didn't mean an alcoholic beverage chill. I'm on them too, the antidepressants at least." Cece said, pointing to the her red cup that was in her hand. "Apple juice is the way to go."

"Apple juice?" Emily asked, smiling as she took Cece's red cup to look inside. "Why's it fizzing?"

"Because I put Sprite in it." Cece said. "Go ahead and take a sip."

Emily took a small sip before handing the cup back to Cece. Cece raised her eyebrows and smirked at Emily in a manner that looked a lot like a look Alison had given her before. Cece's blue eyes twinkled the same way as Alison's did, and Emily noticed their similar chin that she never noticed before.

"It's good." Emily smiled politely.

"Beats any alcoholic beverage you'll have." Cece said proudly. "Come with me, come meet some people. I'm sure Alison will be beyond happy to know that you've arrived."

"Uh yeah, speaking of Alison, I need to give her this." Emily said, reaching into her back pocket and pulled out a small rectangular box.

"What's inside?" Cece asked, taking the box from her to lift the lid. "Ah, a Paris charm bracelet. She'll love it."

"Think so?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, anything Paris finds a special place in her heart. And apparently you have too, she won't shut up about you." Cece said, closing the box to hand back to Emily.

"Really?" Emily asked, feeling more happy than normal.

"Really. So what's the occasion that you're giving her this charm bracelet?" Cece asked. "It's not her birthday until June."

"Oh, uh, well it was my birthday on Sunday and she gave me this necklace that was like really expensive," Emily said, pulling the necklace out from its place underneath her shirt. "I saw she already had one of her own, and I just felt like I needed to get her one. You know?"

Cece smiled, "Sure. Now come on, I can give you a little house tour since Alison's busy."

Emily followed Cece through Alison's house, making their way towards the kitchen which broke off into a smaller dining room. People were here and there along the kitchen and kitchen table, they all seemed to stare at Emily as she made her way into the kitchen. Among the people, Emily spotted Alison talking animately to another couple. A man had his arm around her shoulders, a drink in his hand. Emily recognized him as the man at The Radley, and assumed it was her husband.

"Here, I'll make you a drink." Cece said, opening Alison's fridge to pull out the apple juice. "This is her kitchen if you haven't realized."

Emily placed her hand on the shiny granite countertop, looking at how high tech everything in the kitchen seemed.

"It's nice." Emily said, looking up at Cece who was looking back at her with a 'DiLaurentis smirk' on her face.

"Yeah everything in their house is like that." Cece said. "Her husband likes the best of the best."

Emily took the red cup from Cece when Cece was done making her drink, turning her attention to the tapping of claws against hardwood floor. Coming into view was a very old dog, and Emily smiled slightly before putting her cup down on the table.

"Is this Pepe?" Emily asked, bending down while keeping her left leg straight.

"Yeah that's old Pepe. Don't know how he's still sticking around." Cece sighed. "You know him from before?"

"Uh yeah, he was at the senior picnic. Ali's dad was on grill duty, and he brought Pepe." Emily said, as Pepe laid down at Emily's feet so that she could pet him.

"Wow, looks like he likes you more than he likes me." Cece smiled. "New fan favorite. Pepe approves."

"Who's a good boy?" Emily asked Pepe in a baby voice. "Oh you're so soft and you smell really good."

"Yeah Pepe is pretty much Ali's child." Cece said, coming to kneel down next to Emily. "Ever since we got him from the shelter when she was seventeen. She always wanted a dog, my mom was never big on pets."

"He's adorable." Emily said, as Pepe's tail hit the hardwood floor loudly.

"Hey you two."

Emily and Cece looked up simultaneously to see Alison looking down at them with a sweet smile on her face.

"Oh hey." Emily said, her mouth hanging slightly open at the sight before her. To say Alison was looking good was an understatement, she had a hot pink top on and tight jeans that Emily had never seen her in. Then again, all the times Emily saw Alison she was in her teaching clothes or wrapped up for the cold.

"I was wondering when you would show up." Alison said, as Emily straightened up. "I'm glad you made it."

"Uh yeah I-" Emily stuttered. She was unable to finish because Alison had stepped forward and wrapped her arms snugly around Emily's middle, and Emily tried her best to hug back.

"I figured out how to hug you with your crutches." Alison said, pulling her back.

"Yeah, yeah you did." Emily said, picking up her red cup from the table. When Emily said Spencer was the best hugger, she was wrong, Alison had definitely just dethroned Spencer.

"I see Cece hooked you up with something to drink." Alison said, casually taking the cup from Emily's hand. "What is it?"

"Just apple juice and Sprite." Emily said, watching as Alison's ruby lips placed themselves on Emily's red cup to take a sip.

"It's good, Cece's a master at the non-alcoholic beverages." Alison said, winking at her sister.

Was Alison acting different, or was Emily just noticing more things that she did? Did Alison wink and smirk a lot, and did she always wear red lipstick? Whatever the reason was, Emily couldn't keep her eyes off her.

"Well, I'll leave you two guys to chat." Cece said, and Emily thought she saw her mutter something about 'sexual tension'. But then again, Emily wasn't the best lip reader.

Before either girl could object, Cece left with her drink and made her way towards the crowd of people who were still glancing at Emily. Alison turned around, noticing Emily's uneasiness.

"Did I interrupt something?" Alison asked, going to pour herself a glass of wine.

"Oh no, Cece was just grabbing me a drink and wanted to show me a bit of your house." Emily said, as she bent over slightly to rub Pepe's ears.

"Oh, well I can show you around if you want?" Alison said, pointing behind her. "With all the staring eyes, I think you would want to get out of here."

Emily laughed slightly, "Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Follow me then." Alison said, motioning for Emily to follow her.

Emily crutched behind her, trying to keep her eyes off of the fact that Alison's jeans really fit her. Alison led her into a living room with a large couch and TV, turning on a light as Pepe walked in behind them.

"Much more quiet, don't you think?" Alison asked, sitting on the couch.

Emily was transfixed by the table with a picture on it, taking a closer look at what was going on. In the picture, a man who Emily identified as Rollins was holding Alison bridal style. Alison was in a white dress, Rollins in a white tux. Emily realized it was their wedding picture, and from the look on Alison's face, she looked happy. In both times that Emily saw Alison with her husband, she didn't look at her husband the same way that she was in the photo. But it really wasn't Emily's place to make assumptions.

"See something interesting?" Alison asked, as Pepe got up onto the couch and sat down next to her.

"Sorry, just looking." Emily said, tearing her eyes away from the photo to make the rest of her way to Alison's couch.

She sat down on the couch and put her crutches to the side. Pepe was sandwiched in the middle of the both of them, and both of them pet Pepe as he closed his eyes.

"I thought I saw people in here."

The sliding glass door to the living room opened, and in entered Alison's husband with a white smile on his face and a glass of whiskey in his hand. He made his way over to the couch and sat on the coffee table that faced Alison and Emily.

"Emily, this is my husband Rollins." Alison said, as Rollins smiled at her. "Rollins, this is my friend from high school, Emily."

"Nice to meet you Emily." Rollins said, shaking Emily's hand. "I've heard a little bit about you."

"Nice to meet you too." Emily smiled, releasing her hand from Rollin's tight grip.

"So, Alison tells me you just got back from Afghanistan." Rollins said, leaning back slightly to sip his whiskey.

"Yeah, two weeks ago now." Emily nodded.

"It must've been hard out there. Having to pass all those children in need everyday." Rollins said.

"And you don't have to remind her." Alison cut in before Emily could respond.

"So, how'd it happen?" Rollins asked, nodding at her leg while ignoring his wife.

"If you don't mind, I would rather not talk about it." Emily said, awkwardly while looking at Alison to help her out.

"Why don't you go back to the guys? I'm sure they miss you." Alison said.

Rollins rose from his seat and kissed the top of Alison's head. "Fine, I need another drink anyway."

Once Rollins closed the sliding door behind him, Alison sighed. "He really is something." she said dully.

"It's fine. I, uh ,I probably should get going." Emily said.

"Already? It's been like twenty minutes." Alison said, her face falling.

"Yeah, well I have to get up early tomorrow to get my leg stitches removed. It's probably good to have a good night sleep." Emily said, grabbing her crutches. "I'll just text my mom to pick me up and-"

"Oh, don't even bother, I'll drive you." Alison said, standing up.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Yeah no it's fine! I kind of need some fresh air from all Rollin's friends and their girlfriends." Alison said. "Let me just grab my keys."

Minutes later, they were outside and making their way towards the silver car parked in the driveway of Alison's house. Pepe had followed them out, which was strange since he hadn't left the house except to use the bathroom in months.

"Wanna go for a ride Pepe?" Alison asked, opening the backdoor to allow Pepe in.

Pepe tried to jump into the car, but failed and fell out. Sighing to herself, Alison helped Pepe into the back of the car by lifting him up. Emily got in the car on her own, a bit surprised that Alison didn't try to help her into her car since everyone else did. As Emily settled into the passenger seat, Pepe climbed over the center console and laid down in Emily's lap.

Alison opened the car door and got in, doing a double take as Pepe settled himself in Emily's lap.

"Did he do that on his own?" Alison asked.

"Yeah, he's fine." Emily said, petting his smooth fur. "I always wanted a dog."

"That's so funny, he must really like you." Alison said, reaching over to pet Pepe before turning on the car.

Pepe remained in Emily's lap the whole drive home, as Emily and Alison talked about the possibility of snow. When Alison pulled into the driveway of Emily's house, she helped Emily get Pepe off of her so she could leave.

Before Emily could leave, Alison reached over and grabbed Emily's hand, surprising Emily.

"I'm sorry about Rollins by the way." Alison said, squeezing Emily's hand. "He's...Rollins."

"Don't worry about it." Emily gave Alison a side smile as she held Alison's hand. "It's fine really."

"Have a good night." Alison said. "Maybe we can hang out for more than twenty minutes for once."


"Ms. Fields?" Emily's doctor asked, entering the exam room. He was looking over documents on a white clipboard, before looking up at her. He had a prominent British accent and a white lab coat on.

"That's me." Emily said casually, looking at him from her spot on the exam table.

"I'm Doctor Wren Kingston. I understand this is our first time meeting." he said, giving her a small smile.

"I'm Emily, but I bet you knew that already." Emily said casually.

"I do! Now, I see here I just need to remove your leg stitches. I also see I will be seeing you to check up on your leg." he said. "Do you mind taking your brace off?"

"Sure." Emily said, already reaching for the velcro straps to undo them.

Dr. Kingston pulled out pincers, an antiseptic pad, and surgical scissors as Emily removed the brace. Thinking ahead, she decided to wear shorts so that he had easier access to her leg, even though the temperature outside was cold.

"Right, just lay down on the table on your stomach so that I have easy access to your stitches and I should get these out before you know it." Dr. Kingston said, as Emily laid on her stomach.

There was a tearing noise and something cold and wet hit her leg right where her stitches were.

"Wow that's cold." Emily said, trying not to move her broken leg.

"Just cleaning up the area with antiseptic. Don't worry." her doctor replied.

Getting her stitches removed didn't hurt, but she did feel the occasional tug as he removed them. She tried to busy herself with other things, thinking about events that happened recently in her life.

"Shit!" Emily muttered, suddenly remembering something.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Dr. Kingston asked.

"No you're fine, I just remembered something I forgot to do." Emily said.

The bracelet she was supposed to give Alison at her party was still in her pocket of her jeans. She had totally forgot about Alison's bracelet with what happened at the party, and felt almost stupid that she had completely forgotten.

After her stitches were removed, she pulled back on her brace and thanked her doctor but the bracelet was still on her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about it all day, even while she tried to busy herself with one of the books Spencer gave her.

At around nine PM, Emily was awake reading the first book of the Harry Potter series. She hadn't read it since she was in middle school, and wasn't as big of a superfan as Spencer was.

Her phone suddenly buzzed on her bedside table, lighting up and startling Emily slightly. She reached over and grabbed her phone, holding it up to read the message.

Alison: hey… this may sound like totally out of the blue, but r u awake? kind of got in a huge fight with rollins, needed someone to talk to about it…

Emily: yeah i'm awake…what happened?

Alison: can we talk about it somewhere? meet up?

Emily: well I'm in my room and my ride is asleep...why don't you just come over and we can talk

Alison: be over in five.

Locking her phone, Emily immediately snapped her book closed and threw it towards the bedside table. Getting up from her bed, she glanced at herself in the mirror before running a hand through her hair slightly. Taking a deep breath, she glanced at her black hoodie and gray sweatpants before sitting back down on the bed.

Emily: I'm upstairs in my room, kind of hard for me to move up and down flights of stairs. There's a key under the mat, just come on up. I'm first room on the left. be quiet though.

Alison: ok, just about here.

Emily put her phone on top of the book, she tapped her hands on her legs and shifted uneasily. Why was she getting so nervous all of a sudden about someone coming to her room?

A few minutes later, there was a small knock on the door before the handle turned and someone entered.

"Hey." Alison whispered, entering Emily's bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

"Hey." Emily whispered back, watching as Alison sat down on her bed.

"Wow, reminds me of my high school days." Alison said, looking around the room. "It's a nice room."

"Well it's the same as it was five years ago." Emily smiled. "So what's going on with you?"

"Well, we got into a huge fight. Like it was bad." Alison explained.

"Bad meaning?"

"Meaning like our neighbors could probably hear us." Alison sighed.

"What was it about, if I may ask?" Emily asked.

"He wants kids." Alison said bluntly. "He wants kids, and I don't."

"Ever?" Emily asked.

"Emily I'm twenty-three, I just started teaching, I can't just have kids." Alison said.

"Yeah I understand." Emily sighed. "Why does he want kids so badly?"

"He wants them young, and I'm just not ready." Alison said, looking up at the ceiling. "I feel bad but, I'm just not ready."

Emily shifted slightly, watching Alison wipe at her eyes. "Hey, don't cry." Emily said, moving closer to Alison. "No don't cry."

"And what if we do have kids, and I'm a shitty mom like my mother was?" Alison said, turning towards Emily. Tears were beginning to fall down her face. "I can't live with that."

Emily reached an arm out, and Alison immediately leaned into her side as she continued to cry into her shoulder. Emily didn't know what to say, so she continued to stroke her shoulder and back to soothe her.

She was surprised no one heard Alison's sobs, and hoped no one did as she stroked Alison's lower back.

"Do you think I could stay here tonight?" Alison asked, looking up at Emily while trying to hold back a sob.

"Yeah. Yeah of course." Emily said. "Here, you can borrow pajamas."

Moving away from Alison, she rose from her spot and made her way towards the closet of her room. Quickly she pulled out a pair of black sweats and a navy blue tank top, tossing them Alison's way.

"Here." she said casually, making her way back to the bed while hopping slightly.

"Thanks."

Emily was immediately caught off by surprise as Alison rose from the bed, took off her sweater and began undressing right in Emily's room. Quickly averting her eyes by grabbing her phone from the bedside table, Emily concentrated on the wallpaper of her phone. She felt almost stupid, knowing Alison probably thought this was normal behavior where Emily was overreacting about it.

When she was done, Emily went into her bedside table and pulled out the black box that was supposed to be given to Alison at her party tuesday night.

"Um, so look, I know you got me the necklace and...I don't know, I saw this and I felt like I needed to get you something in return." Emily said, as Alison wiped stray tears from her face.

Alison took the box from Emily, giving her a small smile as she opened it.

"No way!" Alison said, smiling as she took the bracelet out. "I used to have one of these back in elementary school but I lost it."

"Yeah, I remember it." Emily smiled. "I don't know, I just thought of you."

"Thank you so much, this is great." Alison said, putting it on her wrist and expertly clipping it into place.

"You're welcome." Emily said.

"God I'm so exhausted from everything." Alison yawned. "And I have to be up at four tomorrow so that I can get back to my house and get changed to go teach."

"Then let's get to bed." Emily sighed, pulling the back the covers to carefully climb under. She didn't bother to take her sleep medication, praying that she wouldn't have nightmares.

Alison moved to lay down next to her, pulling the covers under her arm as they laid down. Emily leaned to turn off the light, settling down in the now dark room.

There was a few minutes of silence between them, before Alison spoke up from the darkness.

"Do you think I'll be a bad mother Emily?" she asked, turning over to cuddle into Emily's side. "Sorry, I just feel like utter shit after everything that's happened today."

"No, I'm sure you'll be a great mother. Look at you as a teacher, my cousin certainly likes you." Emily said, putting her arm around Alison.

There were a few more minutes of silence between them, and Alison's breaths were getting heavier.

"Thank you for everything Em." Alison said.

"You're going to be okay Alison. You'll be ok." Emily replied.

Close to an hour later, Alison was sound asleep and curled into her side with a strong hold on her middle. Emily tried to sleep, the smell of Alison doing a great help with calming her nerves. Soon enough, Emily drifted off to sleep without her sleep medication, and surprisingly enough to her, she didn't have nightmares.