Alison sat in the same chair Olivia did, staring through the glass that divided her from the inmate that was going to be brought in. To say she was on edge was a bit of an understatement, her fingers were tapping the table in front of her and she looked around frequently.
A few minutes later, the door opened and a familiar woman entered with an officer holding onto her arm. Her hands were handcuffed in the front, and she was escorted to the chair in front of Alison and the glass divider. Her eyebrows furrowed as she sat down, and her handcuffs were removed.
Her expression remained just as confused as she reached for the phone so that she could talk to Alison. Alison reached for her phone as well, putting it to her ear.
"I didn't expect that you would be my visitor," Rowan said, resting her arm on the table. "You're, Olivia's English teacher, right?"
"Yes. And I know, you probably expected to see Olivia or Emily or someone else that wasn't me," Alison said, laughing slightly.
Rowan's face remained straight, "Why are you here? If it's something about what Olivia did at school you'll have to take that up with my brother and his wife. They're her caregivers."
"No, it's not anything Olivia did," Alison said.
"Than what is it about?" Rowan asked. "You're friends with Emily right...are you guys dating?"
"No," Alison smiled. "This may be a bit of a surprise, but I'm married to your daughter's father."
Rowan's eyebrows raised, her face let through no emotion. Alison gulped slightly, glad that there was a barrier between them.
"Elliot never mentioned a wife." she said simply.
"So you've been in contact with him?" Alison asked eagerly. The whole reason she was visiting Rowan was so she could get some answers on what exactly her husband was up to, and what else he wasn't telling her.
"Yes of course I have. He's sent me letters, he still loves me I know it," Rowan said. "You can't change that. You're too young for him anyway, you're the same age as Emily."
"Excuse me, I'm not here to be judged on my marriage life," Alison snapped, her voice turning icy. "I'm here to get answers about what my husband is doing, and why he failed to mention that he knew about your daughter."
"His business involving our daughter is his and my business. This does not involve you," Rowan said, her eyes narrowing as she leaned forward in her seat. Her voice was just as firm and biting as Alison's.
"It does involve me! I'm his wife, married couples are supposed to share those things with each other." Alison said.
"Really? You've never kept anything from Elliot? Nothing?" Rowan asked.
Alison gulped, her mind flashing to a week ago with Emily. Was Rowan onto her? She couldn't have known, she'd been in prison the entire time.
"Nothing," Alison lied, her voice faltering slightly. Of course it did, she was out of practice.
"Elliot may be married to you, but he's in love with me. We have a child together, and you can't change what he and I shared. You can't replicate it," Rowan spat. "When I get out of this dump in three years, he's going to leave you for me. This is helping to make me a better person for him, so that he and I can be together and be there for our daughter. I'm sober for him."
"Rowan, I don't think you understand this," Alison said. "He ignored the fact he had a daughter entirely until we looked at her birth certificate. He knew Emily's last name was Fields and that she looked very similar to both you and your daughter. You and Rollins may have been together in the past, but that part of his life is over. He ignored your daughter's existence and-"
"Liar!" Rowan yelled. "You fucking liar! You manipulative bitch!"
Alison jumped slightly, leaning back in her spot as Rowan slammed a fist on the barrier between them.
"You want Olivia and Elliot for yourself! You're tricking his brain, you're tricking Olivia's brain! You want them for yourself! You want to take them from me!" she yelled, as tears began rolling down her cheeks. "I won't have it! I won't have some young, blonde trophy wife taking my child and my love from me!"
The door behind Rowan opened, and the same police officer who brought Rowan in entered. Alison put the phone back in its spot, watching as the officer approached Rowan. Rowan was banging on the glass barrier, screaming at Alison but she couldn't hear her. The officer pulled on her arms, pulling her away from the wall.
There was a small tap on Alison's shoulder. She turned around to see another officer standing over her. He was older, and he looked extremely tired.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave, miss," he said, his voice gruff.
Alison grabbed her purse, and rose from her seat. "I don't know what happened. I was just trying to talk to her and she freaked out."
"This isn't her first time doing that," he explained. "A lot has been going on lately. It may be best that you don't return, at least not for a while."
"I understand," Alison said. "Thank you, officer."
"No problem," he smiled.
As Alison left the prison and walked to her car, she thought over what just happened. She didn't get the answers that she needed, instead she was left with more questions.
Rollins was in the living room and watching the football game when Alison got home. She shut the door behind her, and quickly rubbed Pepe's ears. She followed the sound of the cheering and the loud announcer as she walked down the hallway to the living room of their house.
Rollins was sitting on the couch, slouching down with only his head and neck being propped up by the back of the couch. He was holding a beer, and there were two other empty ones on the coffee table in front of him.
Alison reached next to him, grabbing the remote as he looked up at her. She hit the power button, and the TV immediately went off.
"Hey! What the fuck Ali, I was watching that!" he said, jumping up from his spot on the couch.
"You have some explaining to do before you go back to watching that stupid game!" Alison hissed, her anger from before returning.
"Okay, relax," Rollins said. "What's going on?"
"You knew about Olivia this whole time!" Alison said, reaching in her purse for the letter. "She sent you a letter explaining what happened! You lied to me, again."
Rollins sighed, and looked at his feet. "I know." he said, simply.
"You know?" Alison asked. "That's all you're going to say for yourself?"
"I knew about Olivia, I knew from the beginning. But Alison, I was twenty-two when I got the letter. I wasn't ready to become a father!" Rollins said.
"Oh so twenty-two is too young for you to have kids but pressuring me about having kids at twenty-three is fine," Alison said.
"Stop doing that! Stop bringing up that past stuff," Rollins said. "Look, I didn't want to become a father and I knew you would be mad at me if I told you I have a daughter which turned out to be your friend's cousin."
"I would've been mad, but I wouldn't have been as mad as finding out through this!" Alison said. "You've gotten out of child support for the sixteen years of Olivia's life, and now you think that you can walk into her life?"
"Because I'm older now! She's my daughter, and I didn't want to deal with her then. I know, it was awful of me, I get it. But now, it's different. What if she came and lived with us? We could be a real family!" Rollins suggested.
"No way! No way am I letting you take her from Emily's family. They have done so much more for you than you have. They've brought her into their home, gave her all of their love, and a chance at having a good life. As for you, you knew about her and chose to do nothing," Alison said. "You are signing those adoption papers when they are presented to you, or you're going to be facing some serious consequences from me."
Rollins sighed, "I just want a family."
"Is this supposed to try to make me feel guilty for you?" Alison asked. "What about the other letters? You must've talked to her."
"Yes! I was talking to her okay! But I stopped once we got engaged I swear!" Rollins said, his face contorting into a clear form of distress. "I love you Alison! I love you so much! You're the only woman in my life, I swear."
Alison sighed, "You can't lie to me about these things," she said.
"I won't!" Rollins said. "I'll sign the papers, I'll do anything you ask. Please, just forgive me."
"Is there anything else you want to tell me right now, while I'm listening?" Alison asked.
"No!" Rollins said, shaking his head. "That's it. There's nothing else."
Alison wanted to be mad at him, and she still was. She was mad at him for lying to her, but she couldn't be that mad since she was lying too. What she was mad at was that Rollins had robbed Olivia of certain parts of her life. Sure he didn't have to be in her life, but he could've helped Rowan out in terms of childcare. It was the least he could do for her. And the fact he wanted to take Olivia from a secure family situation?
"Well, you can have the chance to think about what you did," Alison said. "I'm going to Cece's."
"Wait, Ali. Don't be like that," Rollins said, as Ali tossed the remote to him. "Just stay, don't make this a big deal."
"You're lucky that me staying at Cece's house for the night is the only thing that I'm doing," Alison said.
"Ali?" Cece asked, as she opened the door. "I didn't expect to see you here tonight."
"Hey Cece, I know it's last minute. Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" Alison asked, shivering as light snow fell on her head and shoulders. "It's kind of important."
"Of course!" Cece said, stepping to the side. "Emily's inside too. We can have a girls night!"
"Emily's here?" Alison asked.
"Yeah, she came over to catch up and hang out. She's not staying over though, but I bet we could convince her to if you want," Cece said, as Ali walked in the house.
The door of Cece's house entered right into her living room. Emily was sitting on the larger couch facing the TV, her head turned around to see Alison entering.
"Hey," Emily said, casually. Scream Queens was on the TV screen, Cece must've been trying to get Emily into it.
Alison kicked off her shoes by Cece's door, and smiled slightly at Emily. Being in the presence of both her sister and Emily was already cooling off her nerves. Emily's smile made her feel as if everything was going to be okay.
"Is it cold out there?" Emily asked, as Ali sat down next to her.
"Yeah. I'm freezing," Ali said, crossing her arms and bringing her legs to her chest to keep warm.
"Here. I'd offer you the whole blanket, but I'm cold too. Wanna share?" Emily asked, opening part of the deep purple blanket to Ali.
Ali smiled and scootched closer to Emily, as Emily placed the blanket over her.
"I'm making tea, you guys want tea?" Cece asked, as Ali turned her attention to the TV in front of her. They were on the first episode of the first season. Emily still had three seasons to go.
"Yeah I'll have tea," Ali responded. "Do you have chamomille?"
"Yeah, of course. It's my favorite," Cece said. "What about you Emily? Want any?"
"I'm good for now. Thanks though," Emily responded, as Cece left the living room and entered her kitchen.
"Hey, what's going on?" Emily whispered, placing a comforting hand on Alison's knee. Her thumb rubbed Ali's knee as she turned her head to look at her.
"I'll explain when Cece comes back," Alison responded. "Stay over tonight."
"Here?" Emily asked, her eyebrows raising as she continued to look intensely into Ali's eyes.
"Yeah," Alison said. "Please?"
"Okay, the water for the tea is on," Cece said, walking back into the living room. Ali slowly moved back from Emily, allowing more room between them. "So, what's going on with you Ali?"
"So, you know how I told you about the thing between Rollins and Olivia?" Alison asked.
"Did something else happen?" Emily asked, sitting up slightly. "Is everything okay?"
"I was cleaning out our closet a few days ago, to get rid of a few things that were old and we didn't wear. I found this old shoe box and inside was a letter from Olivia's mom. I read it, and Rollins knew about Olivia this whole time," Alison explained.
"He did?" Cece asked, raising her eyebrows. "That asshole. I knew I didn't like him."
"Wait, did you confront him about it? Or does he not know that you know?" Emily asked, her brows furrowing.
"He knows. I confronted him and he explained to me what happened," Alison said. "He said that he knew, but he wasn't ready to be a father. And now that he's older, he wants to be a father."
"Wait, he's not thinking about not signing the adoption papers, right?" Emily asked.
"Of course not, I made sure he would sign anything regarding Olivia's adoption," Alison said, comfortingly. "I'll make sure that Rollins won't stand in the way of her adoption."
"So, did you just leave him at your house?" Cece asked.
"Yeah, he was drinking beer and watching the football game. It's not like he'll miss me," Alison sighed. "He loves his alcohol more."
"I know this isn't any of my business, but have you considered that maybe he has a drinking problem?" Cece asked.
"I mean, it's crossed my mind. He normally doesn't drink that much, I think he's just had a rough month," Alison sighed. "What am I going to do with him?"
"Um, divorce him?" Cece asked. "It's what I would do."
Emily chuckled slightly, her hand returning to Ali's knee. She squeezed her knee in reassurance, and leaned into Ali's side. Cece got up from the other couch when the teapot started making a loud whistling noise.
It was nice to be able to sit with Emily and Cece, and drink tea. Emily's hand rubbed Ali's thigh under the blanket as Cece returned with Ali's tea and turned on the next episode of Scream Queens. The smell of the tea, the smell of Emily next to her which she had gotten used to, and the feelings of Emily's fingers as they trailed her thigh. There was nothing better at the moment.
Cece didn't seem to notice anything, as she told them various stories of her life. Cece lived a very eventful life, and Ali often joked that she should have her own reality TV show. It wasn't that Cece was mean or dramatic like any of the reality TV stars, it was just that eventful things always had a way of finding Cece. For instance, Cece witnessed a proposal turned bad since the girl ended up declining, and she witnessed a bar fight that ended up in one of the guys losing four of his teeth.
When Emily was talking, Ali slipped her hand under the blanket and intertwined her fingers with the hand Emily was using to rub Ali's thigh. Emily held onto her fingers with a firm grip, as Ali brushed her thumb over the back of Emily's hand. Thanks to blankets, it slipped past Cece's radar, and Alison was able to find comfort in Emily just by holding her hand.
As time passed, and Alison sipped her tea, the exhaustion from the day was beginning to settle on her. Having a warm body like Emily at her side, and her stomach warm from drinking tea, Alison was soon resting her head on Emily's shoulder. Her body shifted and pressed itself against Emily.
She felt Emily's hand slid out of her own, and almost opened her mouth to protest, until she felt the same hand slide behind her back to wrap around her.
"Looks like someone's tired," Ali could hear Cece almost smirk.
"I think she had a rough day," Emily said, as Alison took a deep breath.
"She said she was going to stay the night, do you want me to drive you home or are you thinking of staying too?" Cece asked, her voice lowering to a whisper.
"Um, I think I'm going to stay here tonight if that's okay with you," Emily said, and Ali knew the only reason she was agreeing was because she told her to.
"Alright, well there's a guest bedroom so one of you can sleep in there. And there's this couch. Seems like Ali picked the couch." Cece said, as Emily began to move away from Ali.
"Yup, the couch is for me. My couch. Couch couch couch. Emily you can sleep in the guest bedroom, I'm not leaving this couch," Ali said, laying down in the spot Emily rose from.
"What the fuck?" Cece asked. "I'll grab you both some of my clothes to wear to bed, do you guys want anything specific? Shorts, fuzzy pants?"
"Anything's fine," Ali heard Emily say, and the sound of uneven footsteps as Emily walked away from the couch.
There was a soft thumping in Emily's ears. Her heartbeat, she hadn't taken her meds again. Shit, she always took them. The pain in her leg wasn't as bad as when she first crushed it, but it still wasn't the most pleasant feeling. She could feel the pain meds wearing off slightly, and a tingling sensation in her leg. If she did end up falling asleep, her dreams definitely wouldn't be filled with the greatest of dreams. The sleep medication did help, but sometimes the dreams couldn't be prevented. Without the medication, she didn't know what her dreams would be like.
Not wanting to have nightmares, Emily tried to keep herself awake. Cece's guest bedroom was simple, the walls were a pale pink, and there was a photo of two young twin girls in red raincoats on the wall. Emily found it a bit unnerving, just by how symmetrical the twins looked, but everything was unnerving to her lately. Alison was out on the couch, probably sleeping soundly. She probably wasn't having problems sleeping, and the slight feeling in the back of Emily's head wanted to go out into the living room and have Alison wrap her arms around her in comfort.
Alison had that weird capability. She was able to comfort Emily just by her touch, even a smile, or small choice of words. Emily could do the same to Alison, it was how their relationship worked. They could understand each other, and sometimes it felt that Emily knew Alison a lot longer than a month and a half. Not that they didn't know each other before, but they were never that close.
It was close to two A.M when Emily's eyes began to sting of tiredness. She closed them, putting aside the fact she was going to have probable nightmares.
"Em?"
Emily's eyes shot open, and she sucked in a cool breath of air as she panicked. She pushed off the bed and sat up straight, looking around the room for whoever called her name.
"I-I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
It was Alison, standing in the door frame of the room. Emily breathed a sigh of relief. It was Alison, just Alison.
"No. No, I was awake anyway. You just...scared me," Emily said, her muscles relaxing from their tense state as her head fell back onto the pillow.
"I'm sorry, I should've realized," Alison said, softly. "Do you mind if I stay in here?"
"To sleep?" Emily asked, her head cloudy with sleep. "Is the couch uncomfortable?"
Alison didn't respond, and Emily felt a dip in the bed. The room was pitch black, but Emily could make out the silhouette of Alison's figure with the aid of the moonlight. Her blonde hair was unkempt, blonde strands fell in different directions. Alison didn't lay down, and Emily stared up at her in confusion.
"Is something wrong?" Emily asked, sitting back up to Alison's height.
"No...nothing's wrong," Alison said, softly. Her hand reached out tentatively, and took Emily's again. "I just want to thank you for everything."
"I didn't do anything," Emily said, shaking her head. "It should be me thanking you, honestly."
Emily could hear Alison smile, "Before we argue about this, let's just agree that we both have helped each other out," Alison said.
"Ali...about what happened with-," Emily began, but was cut off by Ali.
Ali had leaned forward, kissing Emily and successfully shutting her up. Emily's hand immediately flew up to Alison's face, cupping her cheek with such gentleness that Ali was almost melting underneath her fingers. It was as if Alison was fine China. Tingles erupted on Ali's skin, underneath wherever Emily touched her. They held the kiss, and Ali relished in the passion they shared in the kiss.
When their lips broke, both were slightly panting. The tip of Ali's nose rested on Emily's, both not daring to move. They were breathing the same air, their lips ghosting each other ever so delicately, waiting for the other to make the next move.
"Ali," Emily breathed. "I-I thought you said-,"
"I know what I said," Ali said, leaning forward slightly to kiss Emily. Emily titled her head back, avoiding her lips successfully. "I need this. Please."
Ali knew Emily wouldn't be able to say no, not to her. And she didn't, she didn't say no. She stayed where she was, continuing to pant slightly as the room feel silent. Ali took this as the go ahead, and leaned to kiss Emily again. Emily allowed their lips to connect, allowing Ali to take control. Her hand that was on Ali's cheek, moved to Alison's hips. She gripped her sides and tugged, helping to lift Ali onto her lap. Alison wrapped her legs around Emily's waist, pushing Emily's cascade of dark hair out of the way so that she could kiss her neck.
Emily let out a strained gasp, finding the bottom of Alison's shirt so that she could hastily pull it over her head. There was no hesitation in Emily's actions anymore, unlike the first time they found themselves in this situation.
Once Ali's shirt was off, it was Emily's turn to attack any bare skin on Alison's body. She went for her chest, peppering kisses and biting gently on any skin not covered by her bra. Ali gasped, and bit her lip, trying not to let anything slip from her mouth. She failed shortly after when Emily's hands began to roam her chest, her touches varied from gentle to forceful.
"Your sister's right down the hall," Emily whispered, and Ali could hear the smirk on her face just by her tone. "Don't want her to catch us."
Alison groaned, and ground her hips into Emily's lap, chasing some sort of friction.
"Just shut up and fuck me already," Alison whispered, impatient with Emily's teasing.
Emily chuckled, "Of course, Queen Ali." she said, teasingly.
She reached behind Ali, and leaned forward to kiss her again. As they kissed, Ali felt Emily's hands fumble with the clasp of her bra. A few seconds later she was successfully able to remove the light pink constricting material, and pulled it off her. She then wrapped an arm around Ali's middle, and lifted Ali. She was able to rotate them, while making sure her braced leg didn't hit anything or bend improperly, and slammed Alison on her back on the bed.
Emily was smiling, which was in between a smirk and a genuine smile. Ali looked up at her, and placed both her hands on Emily's shoulders. Ali breathed heavily, watching as Emily got up slightly and pulled her own shirt over her head. This wasn't a new thing, Ali had already seen it once before, but Emily's body was something she couldn't get used to. She was all kinds of perfection, her stomach flat from rigorous army training and combat. For Ali, she didn't work out as much as Emily, and sometimes she grew self conscious. Emily practically worshipped Ali's body when they got intimate, making any feeling of self consciousness go away, which was something her husband was never able to do. It was a dark tan color, still fairly tan though not as tan as when she first came back from Afghanistan. She wasn't superhuman strong, and it wasn't that evident just by looking at her, but Ali had witnessed her strength on numerous occasions.
Emily didn't seem to notice Ali staring as she lowered herself back on top of her, outstretching her broken leg as she used both her hands to part Ali's legs. She pulled down Ali's sweatpants, discarding them next to where her shirt was. Her hands travelled down Ali's smooth legs, and back up again until they rested on her upper thighs. She looked Ali up and down, and just as the self conscious feeling began to wash over her, Emily spoke up.
"Never have I ever seen someone so gorgeous," Emily smiled, kissing Ali softly.
Ali smiled, and bit her lip. Five years ago, Ali oozed confidence and no sign of imperfection. She made sure to cover that up to the students at Rosewood. But here was Emily, able to make Alison feel she wasn't good enough to have someone like her. She saw Ali for who she was, even back in high school. Maybe if she didn't marry Rollins almost impulsively, things would be different. If she knew that one day she could have the opportunity to be with Emily Fields as much more than just exchanging polite conversation during class and at parties, she probably wouldn't have married him.
But now, she couldn't just divorce her husband. Marriage is much more complicated than dating, there was a process. And, like it or not, her husband needed her. He was dealing with things, she was dealing with things, and she was beginning to notice the amount of what he drank increasing.
But right now, this moment she was sharing with Emily, it was about them. She knew she felt something for Emily, that much she did know. It was different, a fire burning inside her. Was it lust? The fact she was able to fuck her high school crush? Or was it something else? She didn't know, she was too confused at the moment because Emily was kissing her way down her stomach and once she reached below her bellybutton, Ali knew she wouldn't be able to think about anything clearly.
Emily jerked awake, startled and confused as she sat up. She was cold, probably because the bed covers weren't even covering the upper half of her body. Next to her, Ali was curled up in most of the covers and buried into her right side. Emily had her arm locked around her, and had the girl pulled flush against her.
Ali's bright blue eyes were open, staring at Emily as the confusion and panic vanished from Emily. The brightness from outside lit up Ali's eyes, making them look much like a clear blue sky. The innocence in her stare comforted Emily slightly.
"Bad dream?" she asked.
Emily took a deep breath, and settled back in bed, pulling some of the covers away from Ali and onto herself.
"Yeah," Emily gulped. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ali asked.
"No, not really. It's always the same," Emily said, running a hand through her hair. "Falling."
"It hasn't gotten any better?" Ali asked, reaching out to rub Emily's stomach comfortingly with her thumb. "Even with the medication?"
"I mean, the medication helps, but it can't prevent them completely sometimes," Emily sighed. "Plus I didn't take my meds last night. It was probably a contributing factor."
Ali gave her a sad smile, "Well, I'm pretty sure Cece's up. I can hear her."
"Did she come in here?" Emily asked, watching Ali sit up and look for her shirt.
"Nope, she's pretty good with the whole privacy thing. She probably figured I ended up in here anyway," Ali said, pulled her shirt over her head.
When both girls were completely dressed, they exited the bedroom and into the living room of Cece's house. Cece was singing slightly, and unloading her dishwasher.
"Hey babes, I see you guys are awake," Cece said, barely glancing at them as she put away the glasses. "I see you didn't end up staying on the couch the whole night."
"Uh, no," Ali said. "It was pretty uncomfortable and Emily was nice enough to let me sleep with her."
"Huh, I didn't realize it was uncomfortable. I've slept on it a few times when I was too lazy and tired to get up from watching TV," Cece frowned, as she closed the glass cabinet.
"What's for breakfast?" Emily asked, changing the subject.
"Well, I didn't expect you guys would be staying over, so the best I have is cereal, coffee, and yogurt. If you want, we can go out for breakfast," Cece said, closing her dishwasher.
"Cereal's fine," Ali said. "I'm good with that."
"If you have Cheerios, I'm happy," Emily smiled.
"You've never gone ice-skating?" Alison gasped. "You're not even living! Rosewood literally did that thing at the pond every year, and you never went?"
"I guess I was never into falling on my butt in front of the whole town," Emily smiled, sheepishly.
"Well, the pond is frozen and they're having the ice-skating event the whole month of January. You guys should go," Cece suggested, sipping her coffee.
"What about you Cece?" Emily asked.
"Oh, count me out," Cece said. "I've already bruised my tailbone twice and I don't need to do it again."
"See!" Emily said, looking at Alison.
"Emily, Cece is prone to accidents though. You know this," Ali said, as Emily's phone began to ring.
Emily frowned as she glanced at caller ID.
"I told my parents where I was, why is my dad calling?" she asked, picking up her phone and sliding her thumb across the screen to answer.
Alison and Cece exchanged looks briefly, and continued to eat their breakfast.
"So, how's my Pepe doing?" Cece asked, as Emily talked to her dad.
"He's...good-ish," Ali admitted. "Honestly Cece, I don't know how much longer he's got in him."
"Well my little Pepe is a trooper," Cece smiled, sadly. "He's been a good dog."
"He has," Ali said. "It's just, he's a big part of my life, and my first dog."
"Oh my God," Emily said, opening her mouth in shock. "She, she? She did?"
"What's wrong?" Ali asked.
Emily didn't respond, and Ali saw tears begin to form in her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be right home," Emily said.
Emily hung up, and Ali immediately repeated her question.
"Emily, what's wrong?" she asked.
Emily looked up, her face still in shock. "Olivia's mom committed suicide last night."
Ali's eyes widened, as well as Cece's. "Wait, that's the mom of Rollins daughter right?" Cece asked.
"Yeah," Emily said. "And last night during the nightly check, they found her dead in the shower stall."
"They know for sure she committed suicide?" Ali asked.
"I-I don't know!" Emily almost yelled. "Cece, can you please just take me home now?"
Emily had spent the whole day with her grieving family. Olivia was distraught, and hadn't stopped crying since they found out the news. It was a lot for Emily to handle, and she didn't want any part of arranging her aunt's funeral. So, in order to escape the sadness, she called Ali.
Of course, Ali gladly picked her up and took her back to her house. Ali was just as sad as Emily, which was surprising since Ali didn't know Rowan that well. But, her husband did have a daughter with her, and Olivia was her student, maybe that had something to do with it.
Speaking of her husband, he hadn't been home all day. The house was empty besides Ali, Pepe, and Emily. They spent most of their time together in silence up in Ali's bedroom. Ali had intertwined their fingers, and was stroking her thumb on the back of Emily's hand for comfort. Reruns of Parks & Rec was on, but neither of them were paying much attention. Alison seemed to have something else on her mind, and Emily wasn't in the mood to laugh.
The front door opened as Emily's eyes were beginning to droop. It slammed forcefully, causing Emily's eyes to shoot open in panic. She gripped Ali's hand tightly, and looked around.
"Alison!" a man yelled, and loud footsteps echoed throughout the house.
"In here!" Alison called back, and Emily listened as the footsteps climbed the stairs and approached.
Rollins entered, his face slightly red and his hair very unkept. It was always styled, but now it was disheveled and he looked extremely tired. Emily had never seen him anything less than perfect.
"Where've you been all day?" Alison asked. "You don't work on-"
"I was at the prison," Rollins said. "The one Rowan used to be at."
"Oh…" Alison said, her eyes flickering to Emily. "Why?"
"Just to sort a few things out," Rollins said. "And do you know what I found out?"
"What?" Alison asked.
"I found out that you were her last visitor," Rollins said. "In fact, a police officer there stopped me and said, 'Oh, you're Dr. Rollins right? Your wife, Alison, was in here yesterday or maybe two days ago.' Care to explain why you visited her?"
"You visited my aunt?" Emily asked, confused. Alison never mentioned to visit Rowan on her own. Why did she go?
"She didn't tell you Emily?" Rollins asked, his face redder with anger. "I bet she didn't tell you about the fact that she and Rowan got into a fight during that time too, and Alison had to be escorted out."
"Is this true?" Emily asked.
"It was NOT a fight," Alison seethed, backing herself up. "She got mad at me for something I said, but we did not fight."
"You went because of the letter she sent me didn't you?" Rollins asked. "You wanted answers from her. Don't lie to me Ali, I know you."
"Okay, I went!" Ali admitted. "I went to see what she had to say about your relationship. She said you had been sending each other letters. I went there because I knew you would lie about it to me if I asked because you wanted to save yourself. She was convinced that you two were still in love, and that when she got out you were going to leave her for me. So yes, I said that she was wrong and she got mad. I didn't think she would do something like that though! And I had no idea she was going to kill herself!"
Rollins curled his lips, which he only did when he got extremely angry. Ali had only seen it once, and she didn't want to see it again.
"This is your fault," he said, his voice shaking. "You're the reason she's dead, you fucking bitch!"
"Hey!" Emily said, rising. "You need to chill the fuck out. You guys can talk about this without blowing a fucking blood vessel!"
Rollins jaw visibly tightened, and Emily gulped as he stared down at her. Behind her, she could hear small sobs from Ali on the bed. Rollins eyes flickered from Emily to Ali, and his jaw loosened slightly.
"I'm sorry!" Ali sobbed. "I didn't know!"
Emily turned around to Ali curling herself beneath the sheets as she cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she avoided their eyes. She continued to cry, and Emily turned back to Rollins. He was staring at her, his expression much softer.
"I shouldn't have said that," he said, his voice quieter. He turned his attention to Emily, "Stay with her, until she falls asleep."
"Why me?" Emily asked. "Where are you going?"
"I think it's best that she and I spend a few nights apart," he sighed. "I'll see you at the funeral. Tell Olivia if she needs anything, to call me. I hope she's doing okay."
"I'll tell her," Emily said. "Goodnight."
"And tell Ali I'm sorry, when she calms down," he said, before exiting their bedroom.
Emily waited for the front door to close again, before making her way towards Ali. She was still crying, and Emily felt helpless. She reached out and rubbed Ali's back, trying to soothe her without words since she didn't have any.
"It's all my fault Em," Ali sniffled. "You must hate me."
"I don't hate you," Emily sighed. "I'm right here."
reviews are the best :) it gives me your input and helps me write the next chapter
