Alison POV
10, almost 11 years ago, one of my best friends, Caleb Rivers, was killed in a hit-n-run. Several months later I find out my brother was the driver. That same night that Caleb was killed, I was involved in a car accident of my own with Hanna, Caleb's girlfriend. She suffered some serious head trauma and spent months in a coma. My injuries were mostly contained to my abdomen and I lost my baby because of it.
Recovering physically wasn't my biggest obstacle to overcome. It was actually quite easy compared to the mental and emotional challenges I faced. I was so depressed after I lost my baby. I pushed away everyone expect for my therapist. I felt he was the only one who understood me because he had went through something similar. Yeah Claudia and Billy had lost a child too, but they weren't the ones who caused his death.
After a few months of therapy, Dr. Burton finally diagnosed me as bipolar and gave me medication to help me control my illness. At first the made me feel worse. I felt really bad about myself for having a mental illness. I felt worthless so I stopped taking my meds. Noel and Dr. Burton both tried all kinds of crazy things to get me to take them but I wouldn't budge. Hanna eventually stepped in and said she'd never forgive me for the accident if I didn't help myself get better and she wouldn't let me work with her on her fashion line. I couldn't stand the thought of her hating me and I'd do anything for her forgiveness so I took the pills.
2 years later, Dr. Burton decides it would be a good idea to test out some new medication. Something that wasn't as strong as what I was taking at that time. The new pills only caused more problems. I started having anxiety attacks, I developed a sleeping disorder, and I found myself with an increased need for more pills. I ended up having to take more medications, which led to a situational addiction, and that led to a stint in rehab. Noel left me, Aria was living in Europe, Spencer and Emily had moved away, and Hanna was all I had left. She said I caused her enough problems and wanted nothing to do with me. I was alone for five years. I was living in Rosewood with my parents who had learned to be more caring and sympathetic to my condition, but still, I was alone. I need my friends. I needed someone who wouldn't treat me like a ticking time bomb. For five years, I was alone.
My parents asked me what I wanted for my 27th birthday. I told them I wanted to fly to L.A. for an appointment with Dr. Burton. I would have given anything to talk to him again at that point in my life. Mom and Dad bought three plane tickets and we flew to L.A. When we got to our hotel, Hanna, Aria, Noel, Dr. Burton, and the Dawson family were all waiting in our room. They threw me a surprise party. The Dawson's present for me was my own condo in the city. Hanna gave me a job working with her. She knew I had been dreaming about that since the day we left for college. She knew how scared I was that she would never wake up from that coma and both our dreams would be shattered. I thought she hated me forever. She just wanted me to get better because she believed in me and didn't want my talent to go to waste because of some stupid illness. As great as the condo and job offer were, the didn't even come close to what Noel gave me.
After I had opened all my presents, I was a little sad because Noel hadn't given me anything. I looked him with this look of sadness yet anger. I look him dead in the eye and say,
"I don't hear from you for five years, you show up at my surprise party, and you don't even have the decency to get me a birthday present? Are you trying to hurt me even more then you already have?"
That infamous Noel Kahn smirk spreads across his face.
"Oh I got you something alright. I got you the best present of all." he says
Everyone looks on anxiously. I can tell they know something I don't.
"Noel, what's going on?" I ask
He gets down on one knee and pulls a small box out of his jacket pocket.
"Oh my gosh." I gasp
"Alison Lauren DiLaurentis," he starts
Everyone else in the room starts grinning from ear to ear.
"Happy Birthday." he says in one breath and opens the box
My entire face drops. The box has a damn car key! I thought he was giving me a ring! He gives me a freaking key! I want diamonds! A girl like me deserves diamonds! I wanted a big ass rock on my finger that I could show off and make every other girl in the world crazy jealous!
"I don't care what that car looks like! This is the worst present you could have possible given me." I growl
"Just come outside and see the car." he begs
I reluctantly take his hand and let him lead me and the rest of the guests outside. When we start getting closer to the parking lot Noel makes me cover my eyes.
"Alright. Open them." he says after letting my bump into the car
I open my eyes to see a red Ford Mustang. I don't remember what year it was but it was the newest one out at the time. Plus it was wrapped in a huge red bow. Everything is better when it has a bow on it.
"Still mad?" Noel smirks
"Only a little. I can't believe you bought me this car! Its amazing!" I cry
"You always said you wanted to know what it was like to get behind the wheel of one of these babies. Maybe you can't keep the car forever if you plan on having kids and it kinda looks weird when a person gets to a certain age but, you deserve it." he says
"I love you!" I cry and press my lips up against his
He's obviously a little caught off guard at first but he kisses back after a second or so.
"I'm sorry. I kinda got caught up in the moment." I apologize
"Well you know what they say 'old habits die hard.'" he jokes
I was hoping he'd be a little more serious. Say he loves me back. Maybe kiss me this time.
"Hello? How long you gonna leave us hanging?!" a voice calls out, seemingly from my new car
I grab the key to unlock the door a climb inside. There's a laptop sitting in the passenger seat. Spencer and Emily's faces are on the screen.
"Happy Birthday!" they cheer
"Wha-. How. T-thank you." I stutter
"Noel put the whole thing together." Mom says
"Just wanted you to have the best birthday in the history of birthdays. You deserve it Babe." he grins
"I think you have one more present. Open the glove box." Spencer says
"And angle the laptop so we can see what's in there and see your reaction at the same time." Emily commands
"How is it that Spencer's the one stuck with Emily for the rest of her life yet she's still ordering me around?" I joke
"I do not order people around!" Emily says defensively
"Yeah, Babe, you kinda do." Spencer agrees
"Less yapping and more opening the glove box." Noel whines
"Alright, alright. Geez Noel, you don't have to be such a baby." I tease
"Open it!" everyone shouts
I finally obey their commands and reach over to open the glove box. Inside there is, of course, the user's mannel for the car.
"Open the mannel." Noel says
Although I'm confused, I still do what he says.
"Oh my gosh." I gasp
The pages have been cut out the book but there's something inside. An engagement ring with a big ass diamond!
Noel pulls me out of the car, gets down on one knee, and takes the ring in his hand.
"Alison Lauren DiLaurentis, you are the love of my life. Without you my life is empty. You make me want to be a better man. It's been a long and hard road, but I'm glad to have had you by side throughout it all. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Will you marry me?" he proposes
My eyes well up with tears. Everyone assumed they were happy tears, but they were wrong.
"You leave me for five years and you think you can just buy me a new fancy car and put a big ass rock on my finger to make up for it all?" I question angrily
"What?" he asks, taken aback
"You really expect me to take you back because you buy me expensive things? These stupid material things are not want our relationship is about. Its about love, trust, honesty, and sometimes forgiveness. You never even said sorry!" I cry
"Ali, I'm sorry. I know was a douche. I screwed up. I screwed up bad. I can't make up for the fives years of sadness and loneliness, but if let me, I promise to make the rest of your years the best of our years." he says, now standing up, still with my hands in his
"Ask me again." I say
"To marry you?" he asks
"Ask me again." I repeat
Noel gets back down on one knee, the ring in still in his hand.
"Alison Lauren DiLaurentis, will you be my wife?" he asks
"Hmmm, I'll have to think about it." I tease
Everyone stares at me like I'm crazy but Noel stays down on his knee. I pretend to be in deep thought in for a minute.
"Of course I'll marry you! How could anyone say no to a face like that? Now put that rock on my finger and own this proposal!" I cry
Noel slides the ring of to my finger, stands up, presses his lips against mine and spins me around.
"I'm getting married!" I cheer
All of my friends and family as well as the other people in the parking lot start clapping and cheering for us.
"I did it Dr. B! I got the job, the car, the guy, but most importantly, I found happiness. I owe it all it to you." I say, running over to hug him
"I'm proud of you. This was all you Alison." he says, hugging back
"Lets go celebrate!" Noel cheers
Line Break
I didn't care about having a big, fancy wedding. Me and Hanna spent 6 months planning the wedding and that was it. Me and Noel were really excited to get married. Sadly Emily and Spencer couldn't be there. Emily had a big swim meet the next day and Spencer was in deep at work, but everyone else was there. It was a beautiful wedding. Hanna was my maid of honor of course, and Noel asked James and Clay both to be his best men. He loves those boys as much as the rest of us. Caleb may be gone, but Claudia Dawson and two other amazing boys that we love just as much as the one we lost.
For our honeymoon we went to Bora Bora and stayed for a week. A few weeks after we got back I found out I was pregnant. It was a bitter moment finding out. We were thrilled that we were gonna be parents, but it always reminded us of the child we had lost years earlier. We thought about how old they would be, what they might be doing, then the simple fact that we could lose this baby too. My doctor labelled the pregnancy "extremely high risk". She said we needed to be prepared for losing the baby. She said the pregnancy would most likely compromise my health and we should consider abortion. She said even if we didn't want that now, it may become necessary in the future. Me and Noel weighed the risks but we decided to go for it. We wanted this baby more then anything.
The first four or five months went pretty smoothly but by the time we hit month six, all kinds of problems arrised. I suffered through some pretty intense pain and had a little bleeding but nothing we couldn't get through. By the time I reached 32 weeks I was constantly in pain. I spent all my time in the hospital. I was miserable and dreaded my decision to keep the baby. One night I woke up at about 3 a.m. with these intense, sharp pains in my stomach. Noel ran to get the doctor and when he got there I was lying in a pool of blood. They rushed me to the O.R. and did an emergency c-section. The baby was a girl.
Soon we found out she had a weak heart and wasn't breathing on her own. Her lungs were developing slower than they were supposed to. She ended having open heart surgery two days after she was born but thankfully they were able to help her lungs with antibiotics. We were able to take her home six weeks later.
Isabella Lauren Kahn is now 2 years old. She's healthy and at the same level as most of the other kids her age except for her weight. We're not too worried about it because Noel and I were both kind of small babies and we eventually caught up to our age group. We're extremely overprotective of our baby girl so me and Noel hardly ever leave her alone with anyone else. Noel runs a non-profit organization the helps the victims and the families of victims involved in hit-n-run accidents and tries to decrease the number of DUI's that happen each day. He knew how close the cause was to me and my friends and instead of using his wealth for his own personal gain, he decided to use it for the greater good. I couldn't be more proud to call him my husband. While I'm at work, Bella stays home with her daddy and if we're both working I take Bella with me to work. Some our employees have kids and no one to watch them so we set up a little daycare center. Hanna's son, Caleb, goes everyday and Bella loves him. They truly are the best of friends.
Line Break
Today Hanna came to work in tears. Me and Bella were the only ones there at the time so I pulled her into my office and sat her down.
"What's going on Hanna?" I ask, taking her son from her arms
"Spencer called yesterday." she starts
"Ok, but why do you look like you lost your best friend?" I ask
"She said that um." Hanna tries to continue
"Wait a second, is Emily dead?!" I cry
"No. Its J-Jason. He's o-out." she stutters
"What do you mean he's out?" I ask, in denial
"He out of prison because your stupid ass just had to be mentally unstable when you identified him as the driver when no one else could! Your testimony doesn't count and now that sick son of a bitch is free to go out and kill again! Who know's who will be next!" Hanna cries hysterically
"This isn't my fault! I didn't hit Caleb with that car and I am not judge who let him walk!" I argue
"You defended him!" she argues back
"He's my big brother! He was supposed to always have my back and I was supposed to have his because that's what siblings do! He made the ultimate betrayal and I was trying to figure out how to process it but I don't want him out anymore then you do!" I cry
"I don't believe you." she says
"I'm the one who identified him! He's gonna want me dead. Me, Melissa, and Spencer. We're all his sisters and we turned our back on him. I identified him to the cops, Melissa refused to represent him and help him stay out of prison, and Spencer is the prosecutor who put him there. If anyone's life is in danger, it's ours. Ours or someone we love." I argue
"What grudge did he have against me? Why would he steal Caleb from me?" she asks
"I don't know. Without Caleb out the way he thought you'd run to Aria and she'd leave Spencer. Neither of them would ever want Spencer dead and if Aria left her instead of being taken from her, she was more likely to run to him. They are both sick and twisted people. Who knows why they did what they did, but blaming me or Spencer will not change anything. Caleb will still be dead and Jason will still be free. I'm sorry that you're hurting but you are not the only one." I argue
"I'm sorry. I just need someone to blame!" she cries
"Blaming someone won't fix things Han. The only thing you can do is learn to move on. Grief and and anger only cause more problems." I say
"I should probably call Spencer and apologize, shouldn't I?" she asks
"Yeah, you should. I bet she's feeling utterly sick to her stomach. She put him away once but couldn't do it again. I can't imagine what that must be doing to her." I sigh
"I need to take some time off. Do you think you can handle things here without me for a couple weeks?" she asks
"Yeah of course. If you need anything just name it." I agree
"Thanks. Do you think you could keep Caleb for a little bit. Aria's away at some stupid conference or convention thing again and I don't think I can handle him by myself. I think I might go home for a couple weeks." she says
"He can stay with us for as long as you need. Bella would love to have Caleb staying with us. They love each other so much." I say
"Thanks. I'm gonna go call Spencer." she says, heading out the door
Knowing that Jason is free, I'm extremely afraid for me and my family. God knows what he'll do next. Maybe I should contact the LAPD about it. Or should I wait? Jason could have already killed again and be in lock up. Maybe I should wait to see what Spencer says to Hanna. It took me 8 years to have a happy life, amazing husband, and healthy baby. I'll be damned if I let Jason screw this up for me. I'll be damned if I let this stupid disease take control again. My life is great and I will not let anything change that. I'm Alison DiLaurentis. I'm the Alison DiLaurentis. I don't get scared, I instill fear others. I won't curl up into a ball and let some other body of flesh take control of me. Jason's not winning this one It's not a silly game or competition anymore. Thi is my life and I'm gonna fight for it, and I'm gonna come out on top. No one can control me.
And now Jason goes wreaking havoc in yet another life. Jason's fate will carry over into the next and final chapter as well and we'll see where Hanna and Aria end up 10 years into the future. Anyways, until next time. Don't forget to ~Stay Weird