My goodness. You guys seem to like this so much that I feel a little pressure. I'm doing my best. By the way, actual Emison times are so close I can taste it. Seriously. So close. End of this chapter/next chapter close.
Oh and I make reference to a hilarious youtube video of a kid tripping on laughing gas. I think that's the actual name of the video (actually it's something like "David after the dentist"). Go watch it.
By the way, I sincerely thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites. Every fanfic writer will tell you how great it feels to see them.
"Yes or no," a blonde batted her lashes at a tall brunette on her arm, "You called me up and lured me here with your charms because I have money to burn."
As the pair strolled down a sidewalk in the moonlight in Philadelphia, the woman replied, "Yes and no. I knew you'd want to support the cause and…" she leaned into the blonde's ear and whispered, "I missed you. Kinda."
Scoffing, the blonde nudged her companion away with her hip, "Sure you did, Em. That's why you ignored a couple of my calls."
Emily dodged the other woman's attempted grab at her hand and complained, "Eww. Don't get pouty and needy. It's gross."
With a coy smile, the blonde replied, "Is it too much to assume that a friend would return another friend's calls?"
Snaking a hand around the woman's waist, Emily guided them forward while chuckling, "Cece, we've never been friends in the two years that we've known each other."
Cece swiveled in front of her not-friend, keeping the hand on her waist and teased, "Friends don't sleep together randomly when the other person calls them up out of the blue?"
Emily pecked the woman playfully on the nose, "Only you, babe. Only you." With Cece's eyes locked on her own, the brunette fondly remembered their relationship or lack thereof that started a few months after her college graduation. They met at an all time low in both of their lives and offered each other the only comfort they could stomach. For months, they entertained one another a few times a week. Each encounter was physical, but never intimate. Over time, a friendly type of bond lashed them together. They figured regular sex naturally birthed some type of trust and transparency, whether intentional or accidental.
However, months would pass without any type of contact until one spontaneously called the other and the cycle began again. Before Emily moved to Rosewood, they kept each other company at least once a week. With the hustle and bustle of the move, Cece completely dropped off Emily's radar. When Alison suggested she bring someone with affluence, her blonde "friend" immediately popped into her mind. Of course, it would be dishonest for Emily to claim she invited Cece solely for the sake of her money. The brunette desperately needed a buffer to keep her from undressing Alison with her eyes tonight. Having a date of her own might lessen the tension of her, Alison and Duncan in such a close proximity.
Emily might have been a touch too flirtatious with her new friend on Saturday, but she'd been shocked by Alison's thoughtfulness. True to form, she'd foolishly ran back to the blonde's car and proceeded to be a little too honest with her. At this point, the only way the brunette could think of to adjust Alison's expectations was to be even more honest with her by showing up with a date. It wasn't unlike her to show special attention to one woman and go out with another. She wasn't a heartbreaker, she just liked multiple women. That's not to say she couldn't be monogamous. She just hadn't attempted it since college.
"But seriously," Cece replied, "Thanks for thinking of me, Em. You know it means a lot to me."
"Then be prepared to pay for 'art'," she spoke the final word with air quotes.
"Ugh," the other woman groaned, "One of your many flaws: no respect for the arts."
"Oh really?" Emily's lips grazed the blonde's, "And what's another one?" Her right hand settled in the crook of her neck as her lips pecked from ear to to her shoulder.
Taking a step back, Cece replied, "Too much PDA." She grabbed the woman's other hand as they stepped into the restaurant. "Stop it."
"You won't be saying that later," Emily said knowingly. As an attendant slid off their coats, the brunette swept the room for any sign of a friendly face. Alas, the sea of at least one hundred faces blended together in a fleshy form with many sets of eyes.
"Hey, Em," the blonde spoke a little louder to be heard over the crowd, "Where's the ladies' room?" She licked her right thumb and wiped around Emily's lips, "My lipstick is on your face so I'm assuming mine is gone."
"I took it all," Emily smiled as she pointed toward the restrooms.
"Stay here. I'll be back."
"Yes, mom," Emily replied sarcastically.
"You know how gross that sounds, right?" Cece breathed against Emily's lips. The blonde knew her companion loved to be verbally teased and then denied less than an inch from her mouth.
As her date strutted away, Emily caught sight of Aria waving a hand enthusiastically as she dug her way through the swarm of bodies.
"Emily, hey!" she greeted the tall woman fondly, "Ali said you were going to be here."
"With money," Emily clarified. "I was instructed to bring that with me."
Aria nodded in the direction of the blonde's retreat, "Your friend's or your own?" Emily didn't miss the tiny drop in the woman's voice on the word friend's.
"Both, of course. It's good to see you again," Emily bent downward to peck the small woman on the cheek. "You look stunning." Although the dress itself was a standard little black dress, Aria had pinned her hair so her wavy brown locks settled perfectly over her right shoulder. Emily did prefer her new friend's casual edgy look, but her beauty didn't waver even in a simple dress.
Smiling, Aria replied sweeping her hands up and down in Emily's direction, "Thank you and so do you. Ali helped me pick out this dress." If it weren't for the stress on the name Ali and her previous tone change on the word friend, the comments would appear innocent to the untrained ear.
Curious, but unwilling to directly address the topic, Emily replied, "Well, if Alison is the type to consistently upstage her friends, I'm expecting something spectacular from her."
"She's excited to see you," Aria offered while clearly wrestling her facial muscles from a grin to a polite smile.
Confused, Emily swiveled her head and searched the restaurant for the woman in question. It would be better to spot Alison before Cece returned, because her date could sense Emily's internal drooling from a million miles away. "Where is she? And Duncan? I don't see either of them."
The shorter brunette cleared her throat and began fiddling with the rings on her fingers, "Duncan isn't here."
"What? Since when?" Emily queried in disbelief. "I talked to him right after Alison invited me. I told him not to leave me alone with a bunch of rich people."
"Well. I think you should talk to Ali. I—"
"Hey beautiful," Cece approached from behind Aria and reached for her date's arm, "Thanks for waiting." Her hand froze before it could reach Emily and a look of dread pooled on her face at the sight of the small brunette, "Aria?"
"Cece. What are you? What—" Aria stammered now yanking at her rings nearly pulling them off her fingers.
"You two know each other?" asked the oblivious brunette.
Panicking, the blonde fumbled for Emily's hand as her eyes darted in every direction, "Is Ali here?"
"She organized the fundraiser," Aria replied. She sounded merely annoyed but her body twitched in alarm.
"What?" Cece squeaked. "Em," she implored her date who was squeezing her hand reassuringly, "Why didn't you tell—"
"What's going on?" Emily interrupted.
Spencer appeared between Aria and Cece and she addressed the blonde sternly, "You need to leave now before she sees you."
"I know," Cece nodded with understanding and urgency. "We're going. I had no idea. Please, believe me."
"Okay, seriously!" Emily fought to keep her feet planted while the blonde wrenched her right arm behind her pulling her toward the door. "Someone tell me what's going on!" In her mind, she was in the midst of a dramatic scene unfolding simply for the sake of the drama. She detested a lack of information when ordered to do this or that.
"Spencer, Aria!" a voice called out to Alison's friends crowding Emily. Spencer's eyes fell shut in defeat and Aria's eyes swelled with terror. Emily wanted to be happy to see Alison, but the looks on the brunettes' faces and her nearly dislocated shoulder made that impossible. Alison asked brightly as she folded herself into the group, "Why are you hogging Emily?"
The brunette had only a few seconds to glance at Alison's attire. She noticed the colors red and black before Alison peeked over her shoulder to figure out who was tugging her backwards. Emily could almost hear the woman's heart drop as blood rushed from her face as she choked, "Cece?"
Cece's left hand traveled up Emily's right bicep as she turned toward the other blonde, "Alison. I'm so sorry. I didn't know you would be here." Cece's voice trembled with every word and Emily tugged her closer to her right side as she said, "We're leaving. C'mon, Em."
"You brought her here?" Alison asked Emily weakly. Based on the look in Alison's eyes, Emily had done something unforgivable. Her blue eyes begged the brunette for a simple denial—to insist the situation wasn't as it seemed.
"Ali," Spencer spoke up, "She didn't know. Neither of them knew."
The stunned blonde's eyes traveled down Emily's right arm to Cece's hand and further down to their intertwined fingers. "Did you bring her as your date?" Alison accused harshly.
"I am so lost," Emily replied exasperatedly.
She wanted to shout how ridiculous this whole situation was, but Cece leaned up and whispered into her ear, "Please. I'll explain when we leave, which is right now."
It was Aria who finally grabbed Emily by the shoulders and steered her toward the exit. "Please take her and leave. She'll explain."
"Wait!" Alison rushed past Aria and snagged Emily by her left arm, "You're leaving with her?"
Emily was so puzzled by Alison's three consecutive rhetorical questions that words couldn't leave her moving mouth. It was obvious that Alison was hurt, betrayed even, but no one would tell her why. Was she supposed to stay with Alison and abandon Cece? She glanced over at her date and determined it was out of the question to just throw her outside to speak with Alison. When Emily's thoughts were denied a voice, Alison released her and Emily quickly led Cece out of the restaurant.
"What the hell was that?"
Cece jerked away from the brunette and paced, "I should be freakin' pissed at you, but you didn't know."
"Know what?" Emily tossed her hands in the air, "I've had all the cryptic shit I can take."
"She's my ex. We broke up a few months before you and I met."
Emily tucked her arms across her chest in disbelief, "Okay. We all have exes, but most of us don't flip our shit in public places. I just walked out of a scene from a fucking soap opera. All we needed were long dramatic pauses for commercial breaks."
"It didn't end well. At all. I just up and left. I assume she was devastated."
"Ya think?" Emily mocked. "Wait," the brunette continued in astonishment, "You left her?" She gestured to the restaurant. "Have you seen her? Who breaks up with someone like that?"
"Because she was… is an alcoholic," Cece admitted painfully. She was rubbing her chest with her right hand and hugging herself with her left. "She was always drinking and then she lied about it and didn't care. She didn't want help and I couldn't take it anymore. So I left."
Reeling with disgust, the brunette spat, "You just abandoned her? Because we alcoholics do so well with abandonment."
"Save the passive aggressive bullshit, Emily," Cece ordered propping her hands on her hips. "You know better than anyone that alcoholics can be toxic. She was hurting herself and when she let me help her, she was just fucking lying to me. It hurt, Emily," she insisted, "but I couldn't stay with someone like that."
As Cece explained her reasons for leaving Alison, something in Emily's head finally clicked. She was surprised she hadn't figured it out until now. "That explains a lot about 'us' or the lack thereof."
"What do you mean? There's been an 'us' more times than I can count."
"Yeah for maybe two weeks and then poof. You were gone. Then you'd randomly show up again. I've always been up and down with the drinking since we've known each other."
Reluctantly, Cece nodded, "Yeah, you're right." Emily could see the guilt in her eyes, "I couldn't watch it happen with you too."
"Oh dear god!" Emily smacked both sides of her face with her hands, "You dated Alison and I've slept with you." The horror of the realization caked her tongue with a repugnant slime.
"That's been established," the blonde nodded at the obvious. "Wait. Please don't tell me you've had sex with her. That would be too gross especially considering what happened with us a few hours—"
"No!" the brunette blurted defensively waving her hands from side to side. "She's engaged to the guy who used to be one of my best friends!" That fact hadn't stopped her from thinking about it. A lot.
"Oh boy," the blonde sighed.
"This is so not how I expected tonight to go." Although Emily had prepared for some initial awkwardness, she looked forward to seeing Alison and giving her a hard time for making her waste her money on something she'd probably set on fire later. With Cece there to distract her, Emily would feel less like a third wheel with Alison and Duncan.
"No," Cece walked over and slid a hand down one of Emily's dress straps on Emily's chest. "And it's not going to end how we wanted it to either. Can you take me home and not stay? I can't after—"
"No worries," Emily smiled. "This weird drama has ruined my appetite, even for you."
Before the blonde could plant a teasing kiss on Emily's lips, Spencer called out, "Emily!"
The brunette had two coats draped over one arm. As she handed them to their owners, Emily assured, "Spencer, hey. Don't worry. I'm taking Cece home. We're both really sorry. I can come back and—"
"No. You shouldn't come back."
"Uh. Why?" Emily was beyond irritated by the intense seriousness of the situation. They were adults, not high schoolers. "This cause is really important to me."
"And Ali is important to me," Spencer retorted. She softened her tone and continued, "She's really fragile right now even if she won't admit it."
Emily shook her head and tapped her right flattened hand into her left palm, "Cece won't be here. It's just me. What the hell is the problem?"
Surprised by Emily's ignorance, Spencer pulled her a few steps away from Cece and explained, "Stop and think for a minute. You and Alison have an… undefinable relationship. She just saw you with her ex clawing at your arm. Cece broke her heart even if she had a good reason. And now you just…"
Although she understood, Emily didn't like the answer so she replied, "Whatever. I'll just go home." The last thing she wanted Spencer to do was go and report how pathetically sorry she was. She and Alison needed to sort this thing out, not Alison prematurely reacting to Spencer's version of the conversation. She figured Spencer would be more likely to pass along nothing rather than relay Emily's flippant response.
"Spencer," Cece approached the two with a folded check in her hand, "Can you take this as a donation please? Just don't let Alison rip it up."
"Sure. And thank you for understanding."
"Of course, Spence," the blonde smiled, "I didn't stop caring."
"Take this too," Emily whipped a check of her own out of her clutch. "Bid on something Alison would like or just make an anonymous donation."
Before Emily folded the paper in half, Spencer's eyes swelled at the sight of the amount, "I'm pretty sure you have at least one too many zeros on this check."
"Nope," Emily waved off the idea, "I'm finally putting a hunk of metal that was collecting dust to good use."
"Okay then," Spencer grasped the two checks firmly between her fingers. "She'd thank you if she could."
"Yeah. Well. I'll see you on Thursday, right? We're having lunch?"
"Yeah," the other brunette replied brightly. She turned, but then doubled back and requested, "Oh and Emily. Talk to Alison sooner rather than later. She's not a child holding a grudge. She's just shocked and upset—the whole trigger thing."
"Will she be okay?" Emily's voice raised in concern. She hadn't even considered tonight's events affecting Alison to the point of drinking.
"Umm. There's a lot going on with her, but she's been sober for a year and a half so she's strong. We'll watch out for her."
"Good," she replied with relief. "I'll talk with her soon. Oh and don't lose that," she pointed to the paper in Spencer's hands.
"Oh, I won't. Don't worry."
When Spencer retreated into the restaurant, Emily and Cece walked to the brunette's car and headed to Cece's apartment. As she drove, Emily buzzed her lips and whined, "This night blows."
"How adult of you to say," Cece laughed.
Emily couldn't decide if she was annoyed with or concerned about Alison. She wasn't really accustomed to worrying about anyone but herself. On a daily basis, she fought the urge to rush into a liquor store and piss the rest of the day away. Now, her thoughts drifted from her own reprieve to Alison's temptation to indulge in her own drink of choice.
Brushing aside her anxiety, she complained, "I got all dressed up just to be booted out. That hasn't happened in…" She set herself up for the fall. She was usually more careful.
"A year? Right?"
"A couple months," Emily reluctantly admitted.
"Emily…"
"Don't. I'm fine." She detested the sound of pity.
"Does Hanna know?"
"She always knows. Who do you think picks me up on the side of the road?" She pictured herself lounging on a dirty curb with her heels kicked to the side and her bare feet bouncing off the pavement to the rhythm of some song she hummed to herself. A bouncer always checked on her every five minutes and she always replied, "My friend is fucking coming. Chill out."
Cece threaded her fingers through those on Emily's right hand and said, "I hope that never happens again, but if it does and Hanna doesn't pick up, call me. I'm serious."
"It won't happen again." Emily's words had long since lost their meaning. Her resolve to stay sober waned far too often. She didn't know how people could just stop. It seemed impossible.
"You're strong, Em. We may just fool around, but I care about you. I really do."
"I know," Emily squeezed the woman's hand. "But all these gushy feelings are freaking me out. We don't do this kind of stuff."
"Em, c'mon. We do sometimes. We probably know more about each other than we should."
Emily smirked, "I guess sex makes us vulnerable. But, we're usually naked the whole time."
The brunette pulled up to the curb outside Cece's building and the blonde replied, "You're right." She nipped at Emily's ear before sliding out of the car, "We're mostly just inappropriate with each other."
"Go away, tease," Emily smirked.
"Call me sometime," Cece ordered rather than requested.
"Most definitely." After she enjoyed the view of Cece ascending the few steps to her apartment, Emily took out her phone to see a missed call and voicemail from Duncan. "I hope he's going to explain himself. Jerk not showing up," she mumbled to herself. She lifted the phone to her ear and listened. Her jaw slackened and she nearly dropped the phone. First, a wave of shock swept over her, then happiness foamed on the sands of her mind. Just like the waters on a shoreline, the swell of joy fled from the shore and its remnants were dried up by harsh rays of sadness. Somehow, the rock of realization floated briefly until it suddenly plunged beneath the surface and shattered her fragile reality. Her eyelids forgot to wet her eyes and the muscles in her throat forgot to swallow. Long after the voice on the phone stopped, the phone remained glued to her ear. When her body resumed its involuntary functions, she tapped her phone screen a few times and waited for an answer.
"Well, hello my favorite person in the world aside from my boyfriend who is also my favorite person in the world."
"Hanna, is this real life?" Emily mumbled.
"Umm. Are you mocking that little kid in that video who was hopped up on laughing gas? Cuz that was freakin' hilarious." the blonde on the other end of the line chuckled as she quoted, "'Is this gonna be forever?'."
"I'm in a horribly scripted soap opera. First, Cece and Alison and now this damn voicemail. Where the hell are you?!" Emily ignored the reference to one of her favorite youtube videos, aside from those of ridiculously cute cats, and demanded.
"I'm at home. Calm down, crazy. So what happened with Cece and Alison?"
"Later," Emily definitely couldn't explain that now.
"Okay. The voicemail?"
"Funny fucking thing! Duncan was basically balling his eyes out telling me that Alison broke up with him."
"Whoa, dude. Maybe you are in a soap opera."
"Yeah," Emily huffed, "And I can't call him because he said he's gone into the woods to 'think'. Of course, he didn't say what 'woods' or what the hell 'think' means."
"He's probably getting wasted."
"No shit," Emily replied. She really wished she was with him. Drinking with him in her college days always resulted in long talks about nothing or nights she wished she could remember.
"'Why is this happening to me?'" Hanna asked humorously.
"Stop quoting the damn video!"
"Breathe. Now you're just feeding the drama."
"Urgh!" the brunette groaned in that weird tone that ended in a dog growl.
"Calm the fuck down and get your ass over here," Hanna ordered.
"Fine. Miss Bossy Pants."
"I'm hanging up."
"But Han—" the line went dead. Tossing the emotional rock off her shoulders and sprinting away from the cursed beach tainted with misery, she pulled into traffic and drove to Hanna's house without uttering a sound.
Alison barely noticed a thing as soon as Emily strolled out with Cece on her arm. She made introductions, thanked everyone for their support, sat through an auction and mingled solely to avoid being rude. The image of Cece latched onto Emily etched itself deeper and deeper into her consciousness each time it flashed into her mind with realistic detail. She abandoned a logical approach to processing the encounter almost immediately. The last few days had rubbed her raw and this night felt like sandpaper scraping against her skin.
She didn't care that Emily didn't know about Cece. She didn't care that Emily didn't know about Duncan. This hurt—it didn't sting or singe, it gouged out the tender blossom of hope that had taken root in her heart. The shovel didn't just take the flower, but the soil that desperately tried to feed the idea of a start with Emily. Only a shattered clay pot remained and her heart bled over the pieces wondering how it could be mended. These emotions completely eclipsed the existence of a tangible reconciliation with Emily. All she could do was feel, she had no strength to think.
When she finally reached her house, she stripped off her dress and flung her heels off against the wall in a hallway. The thud of the shoes on drywall didn't begin to satisfy her desire for audible crashes and slams to mirror the fury mixed with pain inside. She hastily pulled on sweat pants and a t-shirt and made a beeline for her freezer. If she couldn't have alcohol, she'd stuff her face with ice cream.
A knock on the door interrupted her plans. She crept silently to the front of her house. No one ever showed up at her door past midnight. Even louder pounds attacked her ears before she could reach the peep hole. She gasped. Oh god not now.
"Alison!" Emily called out from the other side. "I know you're in there!" The blonde sank down to the floor in a crouching position. She needed to gorge herself on anger and agony before actually facing the source. She planted her backside firmly on the welcome mat.
"Look. I'm not leaving until you open the door!" Emily's voice still sounded demanding.
As Alison settled her right ear against the door while curling her knees up to her chest, the brunette ironically claimed in a softer voice, "I bet you're right next to the door."
The blonde clasped a hand over her mouth to silence the tornado of emotions begging to cry out. "Alison. Please. Don't be like this." A unfamiliar tone drifted through the door. The verbal request toyed with the idea of groveling. "I'm sorry." The blonde's finger doodled on the black paint of the door.
"Fine," Emily resigned and cleared her throat. "So I have this client tomorrow that drives me freakin' nuts. She chews gum, no, she smacks gum the whole session. I'm trying to rehabilitate her ankle so she can kick a ball around a field again and there's a cow chewing in my ear. It's disgusting."
Finally giving in, Alison hopped to her feet, swung open the door and demanded, "What do you want?" As she stared at the brunette's face, she remembered why she fought the urge to open the door. Her emotional resolve withered with each passing moment. Only her stubbornness propped up her defenses with a stick.
"To apologize and talk."
"Can it wait until tomorrow? Or did it just need to wait until after you were done with Cece?"
Instead of falling into Alison's trap, Emily nodded, "Yeah. It can wait."
"It can?" When the blonde tossed the unnecessary mention of Cece into Emily's face, she hadn't expected her to dodge.
Shrugging, Emily answered, "If you really want it to. Then sure it can." Her eyes darted upward as she recalled verbally, "I'm free-ish tomorrow other than the cow and I have lunch plans on Thursday, but other than that—"
"Then it can wait," Alison insisted. Her heart felt as though her stomach had it in a headlock. It couldn't breathe; she didn't feel right.
"Alright," Emily offered a small smile. "Sleep well." Without another word or protest, the brunette stalked away from the house.
Alison shut the door and once again slid down like jelly onto the floor. This was all too much and logic wasn't welcome. She'd slammed the door on its face a few hours ago. After feasting on chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and old episodes of Modern Family, she tucked herself between her bedsheets and drifted off into a surprisingly peaceful sleep.
She arose early the next morning as she always did. On her way out the door, she shoved half of a bagel into her mouth and slid into her car. When she turned around in her seat to back out, she saw a familiar vehicle blocking her driveway. Emily.