AUTHOR'S NOTE - Here is the second part as promised. Love you all for your support. Enjoy this.

MONDAY - SHADOWS AND SCARVES

Alison

Alison was having breakfast in the dining room of the Independence Inn. The pancakes had been great and she was now having her coffee. Her cellphone buzzed and she found a message from Ashley – Mrs. Marin from the realtor's office informing her that she could sign the papers for the house as early as that evening if she wanted to. Alison smiled and sent her a message thanking her.

Alison had seen two apartments the previous evening. One was way too huge for her but the other had been perfect. Modern, clean décor, spacious and yet quite homely. Alison had almost decided on the apartment but had still asked to see the house she had picked out and she was glad she had.

It was a two storey quaint house surrounded by a beautiful lawn in the front and a very painfully worked on garden and green house at the back. There were a huge sycamore tree to the side of the house that shaded most of the front lawn and below it was a very pretty white canopy swing with cushions and pillows that Alison fell in love with.

As Alison walked up to the front porch the house almost felt like home, warm and inviting. Inspite of the amount of land around, the house itself was not huge. It was safe and not intimidating. The interiors weren't classy and modern like she was accustomed to at Aria's or in the house she had grown up in but it was comfortable and cozy.

Alison didn't have to think twice before accepting the asking price and requesting the deal go through as soon as possible. Her phone lit up again, this time with a message informing her that the meeting for the signing of the papers was set up at 4 at the house itself. Things were falling in place.

After breakfast she returned to her room in the inn and hesitantly dialed Ezra's number. He picked up after the first ring.

"Hey stranger," came his familiar voice from the end of the line.

"Hey," Alison responded, her voice small.

"Are you okay?" he inquired when her voice sounded low.

"I guess so," she replied. "I'm back home and although I wanted to stay away I think part of me missed Rosewood."

"Well, we miss you. I do. Malcolm gets really fussy ten times a day and Aria insists he wants you. Aria really misses you too, more than any of us probably."

Alison's eyes clouded over as she spoke now, "I miss all of you too, so much. I was angry. I still am. But I really miss having you guys around."

"Come back then."

"I can't. As much as I love you guys I belong here."

"Is it safe for you, Ali?" he asked reluctantly, not quite sure how Alison would react to him knowing about her past.

"Aria told you," she stated with a sigh. But the truth was she didn't care anymore. It had not been her fault. She was done hiding like she needed to be ashamed. "I'm okay. Everything is fine now. Don't worry about me."

"That's good. Aria said something about everyone being caught but she is still a little worried. You should talk to her."

"I will, I promise." Alison really didn't want to carry any anger within her anymore. She loved Aria. She knew she would forgive her someday. So why not now?

"Thanks, she will be thrilled. Do you need anything Ali? Anything we could help you with?" Ezra offered. He did really care.

"Actually, there is something you can do for me. I bought a house. Its nice, I like it a lot. I was wondering if you could send me all of my stuff."

"Wow. Now it really feels like you are gone," Ezra mulled more to himself than Ali. "I'll take care of it, don't worry. Just send me an address," he went on.

Alison smiled, "Thank you. This isn't the end. You know that right? I want all of you visiting. I miss Malcolm so much. I want to be a part of his life. Always."

"Yes, of course. We want you to be a part of his. Remember to send me the address, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll do it right away. I've got to go now. I have a million things to take care of. I'll call soon to speak to Aria."

"Take care."

"You too. Bye." Alison disconnected the call. She had known this was going to be painful. Hopefully, things would get better with time. She still had to make that call to Spencer, but she decided she didn't have the energy for that right now.

She picked up her purse and the room keys and walked out. She needed to reintroduce herself to Rosewood.

Alison walked around town for an hour. Nothing had changed in some places and some others were unrecognizable. Almost no one recognized her since she kept away from her old haunts and neighborhoods. She had lunch at The Grille, a place she had been to before and though she did get a nod of recognition from the waiter, nothing was uncomfortable.

At around 4 in the evening she drove up the road leading up to what was soon to be her home. She liked the street; it was a quite neighborhood with mostly simple houses and an occasional grand one thrown in between. Her house fitted somewhere in between but was undeniably the most charming.

She parked outside the house on the street and looked at her watch. She was ten minutes early and decided she would wait outside till Ashley arrived. Her attention wandered to the neighbor's yard. It was well kept with lush green grass and about four dog kennels over on one end.

Alison looked around but saw no dogs in sight. She wandered closer to the house and looked towards the backyard, when she heard a soft voice from the house.

"Are you looking for something?" Alison almost jumped out of her skin. She looked to see where the voice came from and she found a friendly face peering out from behind the curtains of a window.

"I'm sorry," Alison shouted back. "I was just looking for the dogs since I saw the kennels. Didn't mean to intrude."

The front door opened and a delicate blonde stepped out. She was shorter than Alison with green eyes and lighter blonde hair. The blonde was dressed in a white shirt and pale blue skirt and looked almost like a fairy as she floated out, with a tiny ball of black, brown and white in her arms.

"Sharonne," she said extending her free hand as she neared Alison.

"Alison," she responded smiling brightly. "Who is the little guy?"

"He doesn't have a name yet. A few kids at school found him yesterday and wanted to take him home. He is rooming with me till they get permission to keep him. He is just 'puppy' for now." Sharonne chuckled as she nuzzled against his soft head.

"School? You are a teacher?" Alison inquired.

"Yes. I teach English at Rosewood Middle School."

"I am just about to buy that house," Alison informed her pointing to the white house she had fallen in love with. "I'm glad I met you. Its nice to have good neighbors."

"Yes it is. Luke was a great guy. He moved to be close to his daughter who lives with her mom in Seattle. He loved the house and maintained it well. You will love it." Sharonne spoke gently. Her voice matched her tiny frame and kind eyes.

"I already do," Alison honestly told her. They were interrupted by two golden retrievers bounding towards Sharonne; one with a slight limp.

"Is something wrong with his leg. He looks like he has hurt himself," Alison said quite worried.

"Oh, Beth broke her leg about two years back. I found the poor thing abandoned just outside town, probably because of the broken leg. We got her fixed up pretty well. She has a slight limp though. I found all of them on the streets, abandoned. Luke was abandoned as a puppy and has lived with me almost six years now," she said pointing to the second golden retriever rolling on his back on the grass. "Daisy is inside. She is a mixed breed and is blind. She doesn't leave the house unless instructed to. She is a sweetheart."

Alison was impressed. People who help animals were always the best people. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car coming to a halt behind her own. Ashley was here and she would finally have a home in a few minutes.

Emily

Emily was seated on the floor by the fridge with a bottle of water in one hand and two Aspirins in the other. She swallowed the pills and downed it with almost the entire bottle of water.

Cece walked into the kitchen and threw her handbag and keys on the kitchen table. The sound felt like explosions to Emily and she buried her head between her knees. Cece walked over to the fridge for a drink and found Emily crouched on the floor.

"You are up," Cece stated sarcastically.

Emily lifted her head up and looked at Cece to gauge her mood before dropping it back again. This was going to be a long morning!

"I think we had agreed that you can do what you want as long as it doesn't effect Ce, right?" It was a rhetorical question that Cece didn't need an answer to. "Do what you like Emily just don't hurt Celine."

"I haven't!" Emily defended herself. "What is your problem? Spit it out!"

"Maybe you shouldn't make promises at lunch on Sunday that you would drive her to hockey practice on Monday morning and be there during her try-outs for the junior team if you plan on getting smashed with Hanna." Cece seemed tired and the statement lacked her usual sarcastic bite in her voice.

She sat on a chair beside Emily and looked at her straight in the face. "Em, do you really want to keep doing this forever? Do you need to do this?"

"Do we need to talk about this?" Emily responded, mirroring Cece's somber tone.

"That's not funny," Cece frowned.

"Nothing's funny when you have a hangover," Emily responded; her head finding its way back in between her knees.

"Hanna will one day be the death of you," Cece mumbled almost inaudibly.

"She is my friend, the only one left!" Emily shot back.

"Oh, wow! Really?" Cece's voice was bitter and hurt. "I guess I am a fool for trying to knock some sense into you. Talia is another for managing your business in Philly all by herself, juggling a husband and kid while you spend half your days running away from life because time took Grandma Ali away and Spencer took Alison away."

The words escaped before Cece could think them through but as soon as they left her lips she repented it.

Emily hadn't said a word. She hadn't moved. All of this was too much for her hangover-ridden head to handle. She closed her eyes and rocked herself back and forth slowly.

Cece stood there afraid of saying something else but she couldn't afford to do nothing. She knew that for better or for worse she was all that Emily had. She bent down and sat on her knees beside Emily. She expected to be shunned away but Emily didn't protest when she slowly threw her arm around Emily's shoulder and brought her closer.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just couldn't bear hearing you say that Hanna was all you had. You are my family now, Em. We may have hated each other's guts, fought and had our issues but fate has somehow tied our lives together for a very long time. You have me Em-Celine and me. We are your family."

Emily just sat there till Cece helped her up and ushered her to her bedroom. "Sleep awhile, it will help," Cece comforted her softly. "The medication will help too. You have got to be up by noon. The Berry engagement is tonight. You will have to get things done. I'm going to the café. Will you be fine?"

Emily nodded and lay back drifting off to sleep in a few minutes. Cece made the room comfortable, set an alarm and left.

Emily woke up to an alarm ringing by her bed. It was noon but her curtains had been drawn. She wondered when careless, carefree, bohemian Cece became the woman she was now? She woke, showered and an hour later was in her extremely modern state of the art kitchen at her catering company situated in the elite side of town. She went over the specifications of the carefully planed menu once again with her staff and checked if everything done by the staff over the past two days was satisfactory. Emily was always happy in the kitchen.

When still in culinary school, Hanna had one day informed her that one of the models she worked with, was throwing a party in New York, celebrating her first Cosmopolitan cover and wanted someone to cater the event for her. Emily couldn't think of a reason to refuse and said yes. This was the beginning of a long line of catering assignments for high profile clients and exclusive events.

Emily was overwhelmed; she still had a month left of school. She needed help and space and needed to have everything organized. She found a partner in Paige McCullers. Paige had been a friend from Rosewood who had bumped into Emily at one of these events. She was a PR Manager and was excited to help setup a business that she was confident would grow into something very successful.

Two months after her first catering assignment 'Goût Divin' was born, in Philadelphia. Emily was an exquisite cook and true to its name everything that came out of her kitchen tasted divine. Three months later she had a second branch in New York, which she personally painstakingly chose the staff for and approved the dishes and recipes for. Emily was barely out of culinary school and was well on her way to being a big name in catering for the rich and famous.

At some point down the line Paige's feelings for Emily matured into more than a friendship and she asked Emily out. They dated for a few months. Emily was loyal, attentive and charming, the one thing that she however failed to give Paige was her heart. Paige gave the relationship her all but at some point realized that Emily wasn't what she deserved. It just was not meant to be.

There were tears and regrets and apologies but in the end both girls decided that it was best for the two of them to part ways. This coincided with Celine coming into Emily's life and she moved back to Rosewood, putting Talia in charge of the company in Philadelphia. Back in Rosewood, Emily had still not been able to go back to the café so she left it in Cece's able hands and opened a branch of 'Goût Divin' in Rosewood. It didn't make as much as the other branches but was busy all the same.

At around 8, Emily was done supervising the transport of everything to the beautiful lakeside lawns of the Independence Inn. Everything was perfect and Emily was pleased. All that was left to do was go home, change and be back in half an hour for the engagement of her old friend from school, Craig Berry.

Shadows and Scarves

Emily arrived late. It had been a hassle getting her hair done in time. But no one who looked at her would complain. Emily looked beautiful.

She was in a simply cut deep brown one piece that stopped just above her knees. The deep neck and diamond cut at the back gave it a classy yet sexy look. A matte gold belt broke the uniformity of the dress and rested on her hips highlighting her feminine curves. She wore no jewellery except a matte gold broad armlet that matched her belt and shone against her glowing tan skin. Her hair was up in a French roll completing the chic look and ensuring that no one else at the party looked anything like Emily Fields.

In fifteen minutes Emily had already had 2 glasses of champagne and was enjoying herself.

Alison had signed the papers and was handed over the keys to her new home. She didn't want to waste any more time and so decided that she would move in tonight. She had spent hours shopping for necessities and groceries and was confident that she would do fine and could take a few days to set the rest up.

It was late when she arrived back at the Inn to pick up her things. When she returned the whole place was lit up like a Christmas tree. She slowly made her way upstairs tired after her long day and relieved that she had decided to move into her new home today. There was no way she was going to get any sleep here with all the noise.

Once she was done packing her things, she left them by the door and returned downstairs to check out. She found Lauren the owner of the Inn deep in conversation with members of the party. She politely cut in and informed Lauren of her intention to leave that night. She was of course immediately assisted and was asked to wait in the lounge area till her bill was ready.

"Alison. Oh my God, its you!" came a high-pitched exclamation from across the room. Alison looked up to find herself looking at a tall redhead she remembered from college, but could not quite recall the name of.

"Hey," she replied, wondering how awkward this meeting was going to be.

"You left college so suddenly. We all kind of wondered what happened. Its so great running into you again." The girl seemed genuine, though a little loud and Alison readily accepted the hug offered.

"We moved out west," she informed the redhead. "I completed classes in UCLA."

"Aah, that's nice. So what are you doing back here? Come in. We are having my cousin's engagement party by the lake. Have a drink with me," she was already leading Alison to the entrance to the lawns by her hand.

Alison looked towards Lauren who stated it would take a few minutes more and she would come get her when done. Alison thanked her and walked out towards the party.

Alison had soon learnt that the redhead's name was Crystal, her cousin who just got engaged was Elsa and her fiancé was Craig. She was standing by the lake under a tree listening to Crystal talk about college to some of her other friends when one of the guys let out an appreciative "Wow!"

Alison followed his eyes to the door where in all her glory, looking like Sophia Loren had just stepped out of a scene in 'The Millionairess' was her Emily. Alison felt the air leave her lungs. She watched as Emily walked down the stairs and smiled at everyone around. Everyone seemed to know her, everyone seemed to like her and here was Alison staring at her like a deer in the headlights.

Alison wanted to run up to her and throw herself into her arms saying sorry for every moment of the past two years she had stayed away. But she knew this was probably not the place. These were friends of Emily's who had also been really nice to Alison. What if Emily was furious or created a scene? She didn't want to ruin their engagement party.

She quietly slipped around the edge of the crowd, her eyes never leaving the dazzling, smiling brunette and she made her way back inside to the front desk. Lauren had just completed her bill and Alison completed the necessary formalities. She wondered if Lauren knew Emily. It would spare her the phone call to Spencer.

"The girl that just walked in a few minutes back dressed in brown, tall, brunette… Do you know her?" Alison's voice was shaky.

"I think you're talking about Emily. She catered the party. She owns one of the best catering companies around. Do you need me to get her for you?" Lauren offered.

"Oh. No, no. She looks like she is enjoying the party. I had some business with her, do you know where I could get in touch with her?"

"Yes, hold on," Lauren responded and scrolled through her card filer till she found the one she was looking for. She pulled it out and handed it to Alison. "That's the card for her catering company."

"Thank you so much." Alison smiled at Lauren accepting the card. "If we are done, could you get someone to get my bags and load them in my car."

"Sure," Lauren responded and walked away to fulfill Alison's request. Alison walked back to the door and peered out making sure she was in the shadows. She found Emily laughing with a group at the back, her body swaying from side to side. Emily looked almost drunk but she had been there for not over fifteen minutes.

Alison looked on as Emily picked up another glass of champagne as a waiter passed by and almost lost her balance as she stretched for it. Her eyebrows furrowed, in frustration. She then noticed Emily holding her head and heading towards the closest chair. Alison slowly slipped back into the party and headed towards Emily.

When she was almost within earshot she heard Emily tell a short guy next to her that she wasn't feeling okay and needed to go home. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. Alison could hear her quite clearly as she spoke.

"Cece, I think I'm going to be sick. Can you come pick me up at the Independence Inn?" Her words were slurred and indistinct.

"No, I'm not drunk. I just got here for Christ's sake." Emily definitely looked drunk.

"I still had a headache when I woke up and took a few pills for them. I also took a few later in the evening. It is probably all of it together. Just hurry up."

Emily disconnected and got up. She made her way to the exit slowly, making sure to not lose her balance. But Alison could tell she was definitely not okay. When Emily finally reached the driveway of the Inn she sat on a bench by the entrance, waiting for Cece to get there.

The wind had blown a few strands of her hair free and they caressed her face gently as she closed her eyes and felt the cool breeze. Alison knew Cece was on her way but the sight of Emily all alone was too much to resist. She stepped out of the shadows and walked up to the brunette trying not to startle her she slowly whispered.

"Emily."

Emily opened her eyes a little and shut them again. "Its you," she said.

Alison looked puzzled. She walked a little closer and put her hand on Emily's shoulder. "Emily. Its me. Alison."

"Yes, I know its you," Emily almost giggled and finally opened her eyes. "Its always you Alison."

"Emily, are you okay? I don't …" Alison really didn't know what to say. This was the last thing she expected from Emily.

"I can't believe three glasses of champagne did this to me. It normally takes a lot more. The pills and the champagne have really done a number. Its you, like always."

Alison sat down next to Emily and Emily turned to look at her. "You look almost real." She held out her hand and reached for Alison's hand. "You are real. Cece? Is it you? I'm sorry I'm calling you Alison again. Are we going to fight about this tomorrow?"

Alison felt her heart explode within her. Emily was looking at her, talking to her but was completely convinced she was imagining Alison. And this didn't seem to be the first time!

Emily held her head and groaned. "Its getting worse," she mumbled. The same glorious goddess that Alison had seen a while back was now vulnerable and child-like.

Alison wanted to help, take her in her arms and hold her. So she did exactly that! She pulled Emily towards herself and Emily didn't protest. Emily laid her head in Alison's lap while Alison gently ran her fingers over Emily's forehead, trying to ease the pain.

"I like that," Emily whispered with a gentle smile playing on her lips. "Whoever you are, I'm glad I'm not trying to kiss you today like I normally do. This feels so much better." Emily almost chuckled before her body shuddered in the cold air.

Alison's eyes opened wide wondering how many people Emily had kissed when drunk imagining that they were Alison but she quickly recovered and began rubbing Emily's arm to make her warmer. Then noticing the scarf she had around her own neck she took it off and wrapped it around Emily's shoulders. Emily snuggled into the warmth and Alison continued her gentle ministrations on Emily's forehead till Emily was asleep.

Five minutes later Alison saw a car come up the driveway. She looked down at the brunette asleep in her lap; she did not want any drama upsetting her anymore. She eased Emily's head out of her lap and onto the bench and rushed off towards the shadows offered by the trees around the inn.

She waited there till Cece had driven away with Emily asleep in the back seat, before Alison headed to her own car and drove back home.

As she lay her head on her brand new pillow that night all that she could think of was the head that had a few hours back lay on her lap. Alison fell asleep with a smile on her lips.

How did you like it? I want to know. Leave me a review, I really like hearing from you. Until tomorrow, bye.