A/N: Thank you for all the well-wishes. I'm still pretty sore. Glad I have this escape. Thanks for being so awesome. I hope everyone is enjoying it so far. I love hearing your thoughts. This is probably the fluffiest fic I've done. The drama and conflict is external and the story itself is mostly character driven, which I know might bore some people. But there's definitely something cooking plot-wise, too. There's ALWAYS something.
A little more M-territory in this chapter as well.
Chapter 6:
Autumn Serenade
Alison walked out of the studio lot, and the humidity from the nearly 90 degree evening struck her in the face. Walking out of the air-conditioned building into the heat was a reminder that she wasn't in Pennsylvania anymore.
It was September and people were still out on the beaches and lounging in bikinis near their pools and enjoying the sunny blue skies every day. It was unusually hot, even for Malibu. The temperatures were usually milder and more tolerable.
Her gaze trailed to a line of palm trees. She loved California, but sometimes she longed for the simple things back in Rosewood. Watching the leaves change colors when the temperature dropped was a magnificent sight to see. Fresh green leaves were suddenly fiery orange, neon yellow, and bright red. Like nature's chameleon changing to fit their surroundings.
She'd loved going through the forest that led to the well between her house and Spencer's house and being surrounded by the colors of autumn and listening to the crickets sing their evening song.
Emily had told her she still wasn't used to California in the fall. They'd talked about how much they both missed watching the leaves change.
They were hoping to get a chance to see some of Pennsylvania's infamous fall festivities when they went to visit Emily's parents in a month. She also hoped she could track down her brother, who seemed to be totally avoiding her.
Bitchy man-child.
Alison glanced at her phone. She was supposed to be at the beach with Emily, but she was running late.
She had landed a spot in an upcoming Hollywood film thanks to Aria's connections. It wasn't anything glamorous. She wasn't a leading lady or a quirky sidekick. But she had several lines and the casting director really liked her. Her name was taking off faster than she'd thought possible.
She had texted Emily when they ran over time and ended up having to do some re-shoots.
It was the day before the brunette had to go back to school.
She had a full course load. She had taken less classes in the summer because she needed to work full time to keep up with her bills. Now that she was going back she still planned to work nights and weekends to supplement her income, but her days would be filled with school.
Alison had insisted on helping her with the mortgage and bills. Emily had bucked the idea at first, but Alison was making decent money and she refused to take "no" for an answer.
Emily had finally caved after they'd bickered about it for two weeks.
Alison quickly scrolled through the group chat with her friends. She was slowly earning their trust again. The newest messages made her smile. The girls were gushing over her rising fame.
Hey Hollywood Hotshot, do you need someone to dress you? I've got a killer wardrobe.
Hanna had been sending Alison not-so subtle clues that she would love to take part in her Hollywood career.
Spencer had quickly chimed in,
Don't listen to her. The last time she talked me into an outfit for a presser I looked like a shrimp cocktail waitress.
The CONSTITUENTS ate it up. Hanna retorted.
Hanna, we were meeting with the Governor and State Congress.
And they will never forget you. So again...I ask...you want a stylist, Hollywood Hotshot?
Alison laughed in amusement. She knew exactly what Spencer was talking about. There had been a photo of her standing next to people in business attire and she looked like she was dressed for a Bachelorette party. She'd hidden it with a sensible overcoat and stockings.
Aria hadn't said anything yet, but Alison knew she was on a flight from Boston to Rosewood. She was going to visit her mother.
Alison threw in a string of laugh emojis and liked the conversation.
I'm not a Hollywood Hotshot yet. I'm Malibu Mainstream.
She put her phone up and started walking again.
"Great job today, Ali!" One of her costars flagged her down as she was trying to make a quick exit.
Any other day Alison would have loved the attention, but she had a beautiful girlfriend waiting for her at the beach.
"Thanks, Miranda." Alison flashed her a polite smile.
"Listen, I don't want to impose or anything, but…can I get a quick video with you? I've been following you since before you went viral. Your fashion is always on point and I loved the little positive affirmations and good advice you posted. You mean a lot to me." The girl transformed from the confident actor she was on camera to a shy young girl who looked like a preschooler meeting their favorite superhero.
Alison was torn between her frustration that she had a car waiting and her need to be liked by everyone.
She truly did appreciate her fans.
"Of course!" She smiled.
Miranda clapped in excitement and whipped her phone out. She already had the camera app ready. She positioned the phone so they were both in the frame.
"Hi guys, Randomly Miranda here with your daily dose of OMG! So you'll never guess who I'm working with today!" She angled the camera towards Alison with an excited squeal.
"Hi." Alison looked flawless when she saw herself on camera.
"Yes, she's as awesome i.r.l as she is online." Miranda beamed. "And super-talented, too. She's going to be winning Oscars one day."
Alison couldn't help but smile at the compliment.
The girl snapped a few still shots of them posing and then ended the video.
"Thank you so much."
"Sure." Alison nodded. "Thanks for being a fan. Tag me."
"You bet!"
Alison waved politely and then made a beeline through the lot before she could get stopped by anyone else.
On my way.
She shot Emily a quick text before rushing over to an Uber she'd had ready and waiting. After she climbed in she glanced at her call log and saw a missed call from an unknown number.
She was growing tired of the person harassing her. She couldn't prove that it was Charlotte, but she felt like her sister was savvy enough to sneak a phone in and hide the number when she called. The caller never spoke. They just breathed into the phone and hung up.
She had a new voicemail that was exactly what she expected it to be.
Creepy breathing.
She deleted it just as a text from Emily was coming in.
Hanging with Max and his boyfriend. Take your time.
Emily and Max were finishing up their evening shift. Alison was certain that Max was talking her ear off. He had been dazzling with new relationship glow because of his new boyfriend, José.
Alison hadn't met him yet, but she'd heard a lot about him. Max was one of her favorite fans. He reposted everything and commented on every single thing she put up on TikTok and Instagram.
He was also a really sweet guy. He looked up to Emily because of everything she had done for him. And he idolized Alison.
After she got to the beach she changed out of her clothes and into a bikini that left very little to the imagination.
For a while she had been self-conscious about some of her scars, especially a nasty one on her inner thigh she'd gotten while she was in hiding. But over the years she'd learned not to let the scars define her.
The sun was lowering on the horizon as she made her way to the beach. She loved watching the sunset over the ocean with Emily.
She didn't have much trouble finding them. The beach was less crowded in the evenings. And Max made it easy when he exclaimed in excitement when he saw her approaching.
"Hey Queen!" Max leaped to his feet, tugging on José's hand.
"Hi, Max." Alison smiled.
"This is José and he has been dying to meet you." He pushed his boyfriend in front of himself.
José waved shyly. His deep brown eyes reflected a bashful look that was endearing. He looked so innocent…his high cheekbones rounding out the smile on his face. His wet black hair was slicked back out of his face. He was staring at her as if he couldn't believe she was in his presence.
Emily watched the interaction curiously. It was amusing to her that the Alison she'd always known was someone who commanded attention everywhere that she went now, but in a good way. She was a celebrity, but to Emily she was still just her Alison.
"José, it's nice to meet you." Alison extended her hand.
He seemed completely flabbergasted. He responded in kind, politely shaking her hand.
He was the opposite of Max. Quiet and introverted.
He gently responded with a slight Spanish accent,
"Hi. It is nice to meet you, too. I really like your content."
"She's going to be a big movie star." Max looped his arm into José's. "Right, Alison?"
"That's the plan." She smiled at the happy couple. "Want to take a selfie?"
José's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Of course." The second she answered he pulled his phone out.
Max and José stood side by side, their arms casually thrown around each other. José held the phone up at an angle. She squeezed in front of them and they all mugged for the camera.
The photo had turned out really good. The setting sun in the background gave them all an added glow.
"Tag me if you post it." Alison leaned over the phone as he swiped through the pictures.
"Thank you so much." José was beaming, his cheeks turning bright red.
"We'll leave you two girls to it." Max winked, tugging on José's arm.
He knew Emily and Alison valued their time alone. As much as he liked hanging out with them he knew when to make his exit. Emily and Alison loved that about him.
"It was nice to meet you, Alison." José gave her a shy little wave.
"You too, José." She saw the surprise register on his face that she'd remembered his name.
Max and José kicked up sand as they started walking away.
Alison sat down on the large beach blanket next to Emily just as an alert popped up on her phone.
"That didn't take long." Alison chuckled, glancing at her Instagram alerts.
She clicked on the picture José had tagged her in and tapped the little heart button to like it.
"Max probably posted it for him." Emily stretched her toes out until they hit the sand. "José is shy on socials."
"So they're like…polar opposites." Alison commented on the photo with several heart emojis. She navigated to TikTok, where Miranda had posted the video of them on set. She liked and commented on it, too. "They're perfect for each other."
"Kind of in the same way we are." Emily slipped her fingers in between Alison's fingers. "It's really hot that my girlfriend is a movie star."
"Yeah, but you're the real star here." Alison dropped her phone against the blanket and nudged Emily's shoulder with hers.
"How was it being on set?" Emily lifted her sunglasses.
"Not bad. Chatted with a few people. Made some connections. But no more work talk. My undivided attention is all yours." She flipped her phone over. "How was your day?"
"It was okay. Busy. Got everything ready to head back to class on Monday."
"How are you feeling about that?"
There was a pause and Emily gnawed on her lip, something she did when she was subconsciously hiding her nerves.
"Going back to school has always been a tricky time for me. Mixed emotions." Her eyes darted away from Alison's.
"How so?" Alison reached out with her free hand and rubbed the brunette's arm, regaining her attention.
"Well…" She slowly turned towards Alison. "It always made me think of you. Going back to school that first year without you."
"Oh." A pit of guilt weighed down in her stomach.
She could have done so much differently. She'd never meant for her friends to suffer.
When Alison looked at Emily the brunette seemed visually upset. But she didn't look upset with her. She looked upset that she hadn't been able to protect her.
"I get why you did it." Emily squeezed her hand, ever so patient. "I mean…Jesus…when I think about what I might do if my mom buried me alive and covered for my murderer…" She shuddered. "I know you were scared. You were fifteen. You had just turned fifteen. You were a baby."
Emily furrowed her brow and tilted her head like she was trying to solve a puzzle. Finally, she heaved out a breath,
"You were crying in your sleep last night."
"I was?" Alison asked.
It wasn't uncommon for her to have nightmares, but usually she remembered them. Alison's night was a blank. She couldn't remember what she dreamed about, and she hadn't woken up upset.
"I tried to talk to you." Emily sighed. "You kept mumbling that you were cold, so I held you, but you still kept crying. You said some other stuff. Something about finding a motel and Cyrus. You were scared of him…"
Alison's posture stiffened. She had told Emily the truth about the man she'd been on the run with. She had used her charms to get men to do exactly what she wanted. A pilot who carted her around had been her longest fling…until she ran off with Cyrus.
When Alison looked over at Emily she saw a fiery rage in her eyes. The brunette knew all about the man who had assaulted her, sliced her leg open, and run off with her things.
Emily looked like she wanted to ask her a question, but she was hesitant about it.
"Is there something specific you want to know about my time on the run?" Alison's mouth felt like cotton, because she didn't want to talk about it.
"Only what you feel comfortable sharing." Emily had never pushed her about her trauma. She knew it was Alison's story to tell.
"Well…" Alison drew her legs up to her chest and laid her chin on top of her knees, "I didn't sleep much. I always felt like someone was over my shoulder. And I was scared of being recognized and sent back home to be tortured by Mona and live with my mom again."
"Besides Cyrus…did anyone ever…" She tried to word it gently, "…did anyone try to hurt you?"
Alison stared out at the sea, the sounds of the waves drowning out everything else around her.
"A couple of times guys would get rough with me. After Cyrus…" She moved her arms around her knees and hugged herself tight. She felt Emily's hand on her back, "I was broke and alone and scared. Sometimes I slept in the rain and snow."
Emily's jaw tightened and wrinkles appeared in her brow. She couldn't imagine Alison out there in the cold with no one. Even at her lowest point, at least Emily had her friends in Rosewood. Alison was all alone.
"Sometimes I found abandoned buildings and stayed in them, but I could hear creaking in those buildings. I knew I wasn't alone. There were homeless camps set up in some of them."
Alison was still staring out at the ocean, but Emily was watching her every move. She scooted closer to the blonde and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. Alison loosened up and leaned into her.
"When I needed to get somewhere I had to rely on unconventional methods because I'd run out of bus fare." Which was why she'd been so desperate for Emily to send her money after they found out she was still alive. "I hitched rides with truckers. That could get scary, but I was lucky. Only one of them tried to push me to do things I didn't want to do."
Emily tensed, trying to withhold her anger in order to be present and emotionally available for the blonde. But she wanted to do to Cyrus and that trucker what she'd done to Tyler. Alison had nightmares about that punk, too. And it pissed her off.
Alison was very attractive and flirtatious, but that didn't mean that people could just take what they wanted from her. Emily had always made sure that everything that happened between them was what Alison wanted to happen.
She understood the nature of consent. And she knew what it was like to have that taken away. She remembered how terrified she had been in the locker room with her ex-boyfriend before Toby showed up and pummeled him. She could still remember the feeling of his rough calloused fingers against her thighs and underneath her swimsuit.
It bothered her to think about Alison in that position…alone and vulnerable…with no one there to help.
"Did you happen to get the truck driver's name?" Maybe she could track him down and break his nose.
Alison saw the fleck of ire in her normally docile brown eyes. She'd seen the same look the night Emily had punched Tyler. She had no doubt Emily would spend every waking moment tracking the man down just so she could give him a piece of her mind.
"I got off at the first stop he stopped at and ran and never looked back." Alison shuddered thinking about it. Emily gently stroked her back. It seemed to relax her. "After being stalked and nearly killed in Rosewood I started to have these delusions that there was a killer around every corner. I was scared of other people, even people who tried to help. I lashed out and then disappeared because my anxiety levels were intense. It was overwhelming...and so lonely."
Alison took a deep breath and moved her arms away from where she'd locked them in place around her legs. She stretched her legs back out against the blanket and reached up to wipe away a tear from underneath her eye. She'd managed to hide it from Emily.
"Ali…" Emily glanced at her, a soft look on her face. "I'm so sorry. That must have been so hard for you."
"It was harder to stay away when you all needed me, but I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to trust. I know I did some really screwed up things and pretty much everyone in town had a reason to hurt me. But my mom? She didn't even check to see if I was breathing." Alison choked, the burning in the back of her throat threatening for the dam of tears to break loose. "How do you go back to a home like that? How do you explain that to others? I had a reputation. No one would have believed me."
"I would have." Emily brushed hair out of Alison's face and tucked it behind her ear.
"I should have trusted you." Alison's eyes met Emily's gaze. There was a pregnant pause and then Alison smiled a tiny smile. "I'm glad I have you."
"I'm glad I have you, too." Emily's warm palm cupped her cheek as they leaned in for a kiss.
Alison pulled back and laid her head against Emily's collar bone.
The sun was dipping below the horizon, casting bright orange and blue hues in the sky, giving the ocean a hazy purple look. The orange in the sky offset the purple of the water, making a majestic mix of swirling colors against the moving tide.
They watched as the burning embers disappeared, leaving them with very little natural light.
Emily pulled Alison into her chest and kissed the top of her head.
"Want to go for a swim?" Emily asked.
"There's no lifeguard on duty." Alison responded with a cheeky grin and pointed to a sign with the hours she'd become acquainted with Emily working.
"Don't worry. I'm a pretty good swimmer. I'll keep you safe." Emily took her hand and helped her to her feet.
"Oh you will, will you?" Alison kicked off her flip-flops, her feet touching bare sand. It was still warm despite the absence of the sun overhead.
She let go of Emily's hand and spun around in front of her.
"I'll race you."
Before Emily could reply Alison was darting towards the water. She could hear Emily laughing and calling out behind her.
"That head start won't help you much!"
Alison peered over her shoulder and saw that Emily was gaining on her. She thought she was going to beat her into the water, but then she stumbled in some of the wet sand as she reached the shore line.
Emily ran past her, a large blur of speed and agility leaping into the water.
"I let you win." Alison waded in after her, trying to tackle her, but failing because the waves kept pushing them back to shore.
"Oh, you did, did you?" Her tone matched Alison's teasing sentiment about Emily keeping her safe in the water.
Alison scooped up some water and splashed Emily. She playfully threw her arms around her neck. Their bodies pressed close as the water bobbed around them. Every now and then Alison's feet touched the ocean floor, but for the most part Emily held her up. It was as if they were dancing in the water.
Emily was a siren song and Alison was under her spell. The brunette had always been a natural in the water. Alison had loved watching her swim meets. She was a mermaid among the other girls. Flawless, beautiful, and perfect.
When they kissed Emily could feel Alison's eagerness…could taste the saltwater on her lips. It was everything she'd ever dreamed of and more.
Time wasn't a concept when they were together. They swam and played as the night wore on.
There were a few stragglers still in the water and on the shore, but by the time they were finished swimming the beach was theirs.
They wrapped themselves in towels and hovered together to stay warm. The blanket and the surrounding sand was cold from the loss of the sun's heat.
Emily slid her hand across the blanket and lifted her index finger, slowly skimming it along Alison's pinky. It was the exact tenderness that Alison had come to love about their relationship.
Emily mindlessly stroked Alison's pinky as she stared out at the ocean. She seemed lost in thought.
Alison threaded her fingers into Emily's and curled them in towards her palm. The move caused a flutter of commotion in Emily's chest.
Emily wrapped her other hand over the top of Alison's, which sent a flurry of memories through Alison's head of all the times they'd held hands back in Rosewood when they were scared and confused kids.
They sat quietly for several minutes, just appreciating each other's company.
A large wave crested and rolled up against the shore, hitting the sand with a heavy thud.
Emily jumped at the noise.
She shuddered, a memory surfacing.
Alison's eyes darted down towards where Emily's free hand clenched the blanket with her fist.
She wanted to ask what was wrong, but she already knew the answer.
Charlotte.
Charlotte is what's wrong.
"Em…" When Alison looked at her with her piercing blue eyes in the moonlight Emily saw the inkling of hope that she would unpack the thoughts she was having.
Hearing about Alison's past had opened up old wounds of the brunette's. Wounds that she'd never talked about. She'd never told anyone, not even her friends…who had gone through hell in the Dollhouse with her.
Emily's voice sounded cold when she finally spoke.
"You know the most ironic thing about me moving next to the ocean?" Her gaze was fixed on the waves rolling in. She sucked in a breath and blew it back out, speaking words that Alison never expected to hear from her, "The water terrified me."
"What?" Alison squinted slightly, frowning, a perfect picture of concern.
Emily practically lived in water. She always had.
Alison thought of the strange distant look Emily got on her face sometimes when they talked about the sea. The fear she'd seen in her eyes. Hearing her admitting it was still baffling.
"Since when are you afraid of water?" Alison asked.
Emily took a breath through her nose, calming herself.
"Since it gave me terrible panic attacks after…" She stopped short.
Alison's eyes widened.
The Dollhouse.
She seemed to recall Emily being jumpy near the pool at school once, but she thought it was just the crowds.
"What did she do to you?" Alison's question had almost gotten caught in her throat. She squeezed Emily's hand.
Emily didn't react to her touch. She didn't turn to face her. Perhaps it was too hard for the brunette to look her in the eyes and talk about the torture her sister had put her through.
"She was really good at taking the things you loved and twisting it into your worst fear." Emily tightened her hand around Alison's, not even realizing she was doing it. "The thing is…when I got here it wasn't that I was afraid of the water. I was scared of the horrible memories that I knew would come crashing back to me if I was around it."
"What do you mean she turned the things you loved against you?" Alison's heart was thudding heavily in her chest.
Emily had loved the water, so making her fear it conjugated terrible ideas in Alison's head. What the hell had Charlotte done to her?
"There was this deep watering well down there." She closed her eyes, swallowing hard.
She rubbed at the scar near her ear, hidden by her hairline as she let the past come pouring in.
Her eyes had snapped open, her head pounding. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and nose.
She'd been struck by something in the side of her head and she woke to the crippling darkness she knew so well.
It was punishment for refusing to pull a switch that would have hurt one of her friends.
She could feel a sticky mat of blood in her hair and her cheek was warm from where it freshly flooded down over her face.
She wondered how bad the gash was.
Her dad had told her once that even the smallest cuts on the head would gush blood.
God, her father.
She missed him.
What if she never saw him and her mother again?
Were they okay?
Were they losing hope?
Her father would tear the entire world apart to save her.
She shivered, her bare body against the cold slab of brick surrounding her.
She'd been stripped down to her panties and bra.
She tried to move, but there was barely enough room for her to climb to her wobbly feet. Her back was pressed against the hard exterior, her knees drawn to her chest.
She pressed the palm of one of her hands against the stone surface.
'Breathe…' she'd told herself.
It was dark and she was trapped and it felt like the walls were closing in on her. It didn't help that the well reeked of must and mildew and sewage.
A roaring noise at the top of the hole startled her.
When she looked up she was met by the stinging sensation of freezing water pouring over her. She hacked out a cough, her nose burning after she'd accidentally sucked in a surprised breath.
The water quickly started rising around her.
Panic shot through her nervous system, paralyzing her.
'I'm trapped…' The thought of dying suddenly became a reality.
The frigid water pricked at her skin like knives cutting into her. It was almost at her chin.
'You're a swimmer. Don't panic…'
She felt her feet scraping the well's wall as she sloshed around like a beached fish on the shore. She tried to swim, but the space was too tight. She couldn't kick her legs or swing her arms out.
The best she could do was steady herself against the walls with her palms, but the stone was slick with moss.
"HELP!" The cries came out gurgled.
She tilted her head back, trying to keep her mouth and nose from going under. Her extremities were starting to go numb.
"Please stop! I can't! It's too much! I can't feel my hands!"
She'd sucked in a breath right before her head was completely submerged. Her only hope for survival was trying to float as the water started to rise. But she knew she couldn't hold her breath forever.
She managed to surface long enough to shout again,
"Please! I'm sorry! I can't breathe. I can't…" She gobbled up what little air she could before she dunked under again.
Another torturous minute before she managed to get her lips to the surface and suck in air, along with a small amount of water.
"It hurts! Everything…hurts…"
A swirl of water sucked her under again, like she was caught in a riptide...only there was nowhere to go but down.
Her lungs ballooned out as she held her breath.
She could usually hold her breath for a long time. She'd trained for it when she was on the swim team in high school. But her body was fighting because of the extreme temperature of the water.
It wasn't long before her lungs started to pound inside of her chest. Her head was throbbing, her pulse shooting through her, blood whooshing through her ears.
Bespeckled lights danced in her field of vision. The heat from her lungs was the only part of her that hadn't gone numb from the cold. She fought for as long as she could…until she thought she might die from the pain.
Against her will, her mouth popped open and her body's natural instincts pushing her to breathe had her sucking in a mouthful of the cold murky water. It burned going down her windpipe, and when it hit her lungs a bright flash of pain shot through her head.
'I'm going to die.'
'A is going to kill me.'
'I'll never see my family and friends again.'
'I'll never get to tell Alison I love her.'
Images of her loved ones rolled through her mind like a reel.
Laughing with her friends at the school cafeteria.
Dancing with Toby outside of the school.
Hugging Spencer after they'd had a bad day.
Bantering with Caleb.
Maya's laugh.
Smiling at a dumb joke Hanna told.
Swinging with Aria on her front porch swing.
Holding her mother's hand as she crossed the street when the was three.
Riding on her dad's shoulders as they walked through an apple orchard.
Kissing Alison. Making love in her bedroom.
'She'll never know how much I love her.'
She sucked in another breath and water started filling her lungs. Her brain felt like it was going to explode. Her entire body ached from the chill. Pain shot through her limbs. She barely felt her fingers scrape the wall.
That's when things started to go dark.
She felt herself sinking.
She succumbed to the darkness, resigned to her fate.
Her last thought was of her parents…and Alison.
Emily shivered recounting the story.
Alison moved closer to her, unable to speak.
"When I woke up I was fully dressed again, but my hair was still wet and it smelled like the sewer. I'll never forget that smell." Emily shuddered.
Alison stared at her in horror, slapping her palm over her mouth and fighting back a gag.
"Oh my God…"
She had no idea.
She had tried to get Charlotte to tell her what she'd done to her friends. She had wanted answers. But Charlotte never spoke about it. Neither did her friends.
Guilt seeped into her veins for all the years she'd wasted selfishly searching for answers instead of writing Charlotte off completely.
"Afterwards I started to get sick. My lungs still felt like they were full of water. I developed a fever and a really bad cough." Emily sniffed, not from crying, but from the spray of the beach air. "Even then she didn't stop playing with me…with us. Part of what she did was drive us away from each other…make us so uncomfortable that we didn't want to talk to each other when she let us out of our rooms to see each other. I could tell she was putting everyone else through the same shit. She'd cut and dyed Aria's hair. God knows what else she did to her when she slipped into her room. Hanna's clothes were ripped because they were too small for her…because Charlotte wanted to remind her of her Hefty Hanna days." Emily frowned at the nickname that Alison had given to her.
"I never should have called her that."
Emily didn't seem to comprehend that Alison was speaking, because she just kept talking, letting her pained past out in a light that Alison had never seen before.
"Spencer looked like she hadn't slept the entire time she was there. She was jumpy and I saw something that looked like blood under her fingernails. And Mona…" Her voice was strained with emotion. "Charlotte destroyed her. She took Mona's identity from her and completely mentally destroyed her. I know Mona and I never saw eye to eye, but no one deserves that." She paused, something occurring to her. "I know Mona did some terrible things to you, but…"
"I did terrible things to her, too." Alison wasn't shy about owning up to her part in what had happened.
"Not like this." Emily's eyes were dark and serious. "What Charlotte and Sara did to us…" She shuddered.
Every time Alison thought about how Sara was roaming free while her sister was locked up it made her angry. Because Sara was complicit. She pretended like she was a victim, but she'd tortured her friends with Charlotte. At the very least she should have had to do time in prison. But then she'd gotten hurt the night of the prom and her hands had been burned so badly that she was in the hospital burn unit for almost three weeks. Everyone felt sorry for her after that.
She deserved to fry like bacon.
She hurt my girls.
"Was it all Charlotte or do you think Sara was in on it, too?" Alison asked.
"I don't know. It was more personal for Charlotte. I think she just made Sara do her bidding when she needed help." Emily curled her fingers against the blanket before letting go.
"I don't understand how someone could do things that terrible…and why someone would help them." Alison shook her head in disbelief. "Drowning you…nearly killing you. Drugging and messing with you in your sleep…that's…that's horrific."
How did Charlotte even have access to so many drugs? How had she managed to build an entire underground bunker so elaborate and technologically advanced? Maybe Sara had helped her for money. But it still seemed far-fetched that the two of them alone could pull all that off.
"The whole time we were there…none of it felt real…or we didn't want it to feel real. We had trouble looking at each other, because she did experiments on us. The Milgram Experiment, where she had us pick someone to shock or else everyone would be electrocuted. That's what landed me in the well in the first place. I refused to pick. The worst part was hearing each other screaming." Emily closed her eyes, her eyelids dropping to push it away. The memories of the Dollhouse flickered in the darkness. "Not just screaming. Shrieking. So when she tortured us individually we felt too guilty to talk about what was happening to us."
"What about now? Do you at least have them to confide in about this?" Alison could see how hard it was for Emily to talk about it.
"No. For the most part, we never talk about it. I mean, we shared some details, but not everything. I didn't tell them she drowned me. And they didn't talk about the horrible stuff that was done to them. None of us talked to the cops in detail about what happened to us down there. Though at one point during our captivity I could sense that the others knew something was wrong with me. I could barely breathe. I tried to hide how bad I was feeling. I told them it was just anxiety, but Spencer knew. She heard me cough once and I saw her eyes bulge out of her head. It's like she could hear me drowning. She told me I looked pale. I just countered that we hadn't seen the sunlight in…" She blinked like she was caught back in the Dollhouse with no sense of time, "…we hadn't seen the sunlight in I didn't know how long."
Spencer had pulled her aside, away from the other girls. Aria and Hanna were talking about trying to find Mona, who had been missing for a while.
"You may be able to fool the others, but not me. What happened to you?" Spencer had put her hand on Emily's chest, feeling her ragged breathing. "This is not just a panic attack. You're pale and your lips are blue."
Emily didn't answer. She'd looked right through Spencer.
"Emily, I think you could be dying. We have to get out of here."
When she moved her hand Emily saw traces of red underneath her fingernails.
"Are you bleeding?" Emily had blinked in surprise.
Spencer had quickly drawn back a step and shoved her hands into her pockets.
"Are you okay, Spencer?"
Before her friend could answer a blaring alarm filled the hallway. Red lights flashed unapologetically at them. They all four instinctively covered their ears.
"We had to go back to our rooms or else we'd be punished." Emily explained.
"Jesus." Alison uttered in dismay.
"My breathing got bad enough to the point where one time when she opened our doors I couldn't leave my bed. She closed my door before the others could come check on me. I just remember laying there gasping for breath. I thought I was going to die of pneumonia, but then I woke up the next morning and found antibiotics next to my bed. I was afraid to take them. But I could barely get my breath, so I risked it. I figured I was dying anyway."
"Please tell me the doctors looked at your lungs. You could have long term damage…"
"I didn't tell them anything specific. They did the physical after we were rescued. I'd already finished up my antibiotics by then. And the doctors put all of us on antibiotics out of an abundance of caution. I've never had any issues. I get checked out every year. My lungs are fine. The only thing that developed was my fear of drowning."
"How did you…how are you able to come out to this beach every day after…that?"
Emily paused and considered the question.
"I realized I never wanted anyone to feel the way I felt that day. I never wanted anyone to feel helpless…like no one is going to come to your rescue. And I didn't want Charlotte to win."
Alison wasn't sure what to say. Emily had always handled stress with a grace that Alison couldn't even begin to comprehend.
But this was different. The brunette had gone through it alone. Because of Charlotte, a girl Alison had so desperately wanted to understand. A monster that had been made by her very own parents. When Alison looked at Charlotte she had seen what she could have turned into. She could have been just like her. But now she understood that they were not the same.
Charlotte may have been an innocent child once, but she wasn't anymore. There was no hope for redemption for her. Alison had wanted to believe there was because she'd been given a path for redemption herself. But the difference between them was that Charlotte didn't care about who she'd hurt along the way. Alison did. It tormented her every day.
"I can't take back what she did to you." Alison chose her words carefully. They had never talked about this before and she wanted Emily to know she could talk to her about it. "I can't make up for the fact that I stayed in Rosewood." She gently reached out, her fingertips trailing against Emily's elbow. "But I can promise you that she will never get out if I have anything to say about it. And that I will always be here to listen if you need someone to talk to."
She wasn't going to force the issue. She didn't need to know everything that happened to her friends the month they'd been held against their will. But she needed Emily to know it was okay to reach out.
"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere unless you want me to. And even then, I'm still not going anywhere." Alison felt Emily squeeze her hand tightly. "I screwed things up with you once. I'm not going to do it again. I am in this for the long game. I was lucky enough to fall in love with you all over again. And I am not ever going to let that go. No matter what. You're my family, Emily. You always were. I just didn't see it."
Neither of them was sure who moved in first, but their lips were suddenly touching and their bodies naturally angled towards each other. Emily's hand gripped the side of Alison's neck, pulling her closer.
"I love you." Emily murmured into their kiss.
"I love you more."
And then they were kissing again, Alison slipping her tongue between Emily's parted lips. She gripped Emily's bare side, her fingertips sliding against her skin.
They moved down, lying against the blanket as they pushed up against each other. Emily tangled her fingers through Alison's hair. Feeling her soft blonde locks between her fingers and against her palms was one of her favorite sensory things in the world.
Emily tugged her closer, still in disbelief that they had found their way back to each other.
It's like they'd never been apart.
Everything came back to them so naturally. It reminded Emily of all the times they would make out when they were teenagers. The lusty desire. The thrill of it. The intimacy.
It was also a reminder of how much she loved sharing a bed with Alison, whether it was something as innocent as doing each other's nails or lying there and talking or kissing and touching one another.
Alison was right. They had been given a second chance. And Emily didn't intend to waste that. She'd been trying to bottle up her feelings about Charlotte so she wouldn't hurt Alison. She didn't realize that holding it back was hurting them both. And it wasn't like either one of them pushed them to talk about their trauma. Just knowing that they could open up generated a new feeling of closeness between them.
Alison won the battle of fighting to get on top of her, pushing her back down against the blanket, nudging her legs apart. Emily felt like she was sinking into the sand, the blanket like memory-foam capturing the shape of her body.
Heat flushed into Emily's cheeks, and she knew Alison could see her blushing in the moonlight.
"Do you want to stop?" Alison paused, giving her the chance to say yes or no.
Emily smiled and shook her head.
Alison swiped Emily's hair out of her face to appreciate how innocent she looked. Then her lips were capturing Emily's again as the brunette's hands roamed her body.
For a split second Emily felt self-conscious. They were on her beach. Her place of work. But it's not like people hadn't had sex on the beach before, and she and Alison had plenty of sex over the summer. Still, the disciplined part of her brain uttered out a stupid,
"Do you think anyone can see…" She wasn't able to finish her thought because she felt Alison's fingertips pulling her bikini bottoms to the side.
"I don't care." Alison covered Emily's mouth to swallow her moans, relishing in the feeling of her tan throat rumbling against the palm of her hand.
Emily pulled her closer, her hands slipping against Alison's ass, her palms landing exactly where Alison wanted them to. She wasn't expecting Emily to roll her over and take control.
A surprised squeak slipped out of Alison's mouth and Emily smirked into their kiss.
So cocky. Alison pulled Emily deeper into the kiss and continued what she'd started before Emily had flipped her on to her back.
But Emily didn't make it easy for her as she matched Alison's actions with her own.
Fortunately for them, there were not other stragglers around because it was extremely obvious what they were doing, even with a beach blanket draped over them.
Emily arched up, nearly exposing herself on accident. Alison took the opportunity to roll her back on to her back. She pulled her fingers away and earned an irritated scowl from the brunette. But then Emily watched as her blonde hair disappeared underneath the blanket, her head a lump in the fabric moving down.
She left a trail of feathery kisses against Emily's chest and torso.
She made her way down to the swimmer's beautiful legs, kissing and nipping her inner thighs.
"Jesus, Ali," she heard a huff.
She exhaled a laugh against her skin.
Alison toyed with her at first, but then she dove in, taking what she'd wanted…what she had missed for three years.
She had managed to get better at pleasing her girlfriend over the past few months. Emily guided her in what to do, and Alison quickly learned what she liked.
She saw Emily gripping the blanket beneath her with both hands, fingers curled into fists…holding on to the sand underneath.
Five minutes later their roles had reversed and Emily was the only making Alison see an explosion of colors behind her eyes.
When they finally let go of each other and rolled on to their backs they stared at the stars while they caught their breath.
Emily had pulled the beach towel on top of them because they'd gotten frisky enough to kick off their bathing suits. Their arms were brushed up against each other on top of the beach towel. The blanket below them had kept the sand-exposure to a minimum.
"It's beautiful out tonight." Emily's eyes drifted from the sky over to Alison. She could practically see the stars in her eyes.
Without saying a word, Alison gripped Emily's fingers, pulling her hand up between them. She flipped Emily's hand over until it was face up. Then she used the moonlight to trace the lines in her palm. Her fingertips sent a surge of electricity through Emily's entire body.
"You're beautiful."
Emily curled her fingers and Alison lifted her hand to her mouth, kissing her palm and rubbing it against her sweaty cheek.
They both lowered their hands, their fingers linked when they laid them against the towel again.
The silence was interrupted by Alison giggling.
"What?" Emily rolled towards her, amused. "What's so funny?"
"We just did the most cliché thing in the world." She snorted.
"It's not a cliché because I'm with you." Emily pecked her cheek.
"You sentimental dork." Alison cupped her face and pulled her in for a kiss.
"This sentimental dork had you practically screaming her name for all of Malibu to hear." Emily retorted, raising her brows.
"You wish." Alison rolled her eyes with a laugh. "I was saying…Memily."
"That's not even a word." Emily booped her nose. "You could have easily gone with simile. At least that rhymes and it's a real word."
"Remind me never to play Scrabble with you." Alison hummed against Emily's bare shoulder. "What time do you have to be up in the morning for classes?"
"My first one is online. Zoom lecture at 8." Emily yawned. "And you have an early call time, right?" She trailed her finger along Alison's spine, enjoying the sounds of pleasure it emitted from her.
"You know my call times?" Alison nuzzled close to her. "Stalker."
"Let's not pretend you don't have my entire course schedule memorized." Emily smiled.
"Because I am a planner, Emily." She cut her eyes at the brunette. "I want to spend every waking moment with you."
Emily responded by smiling and staring at her. And Alison melted…because that's what Emily did to her.
"So did you plan this?" Emily finally broke the silence.
"I always plan on having sex with you. It's constantly on my mind." Alison didn't hold back.
Emily snorted and kissed her cheek.
"We should stick to your plans then." Emily cuddled against her, her palm slipping underneath the blanket and on to Alison's bare stomach. "We should stick to your plans all night."
What Alison said next pained her, because it was so hard to say no.
"I would love nothing more than to stay out here and have sex under the stars with you all night, but I will not have your parents coming for my jugular if you start out fall semester slacking because of me." Alison slapped her palm around looking for her bikini.
"But you're such a good distraction." Emily hugged her body, and it wasn't easy for Alison to resist having another round with her, especially with their flesh connected, heat still radiating between them. "Besides…I can't remember the last time we looked at the stars together. Do you remember back in Rosewood when we'd lay out in your backyard and find our favorite stars and point them out?"
"Yeah." Alison sighed, one of her hands slipping between Emily's breasts, feeling for her heartbeat. "After you left Rosewood I would go outside and lay under the stars once a week and think about you. I liked to pretend you were there with me. Sometimes I was out there until after midnight. And then I moved out here and kept up the tradition."
Alison felt Emily's heart pounding in her chest.
"Did you do it on a specific night?" When Alison looked over at Emily there was a curious expression on her face.
"Sunday. Why?" Alison asked.
Emily's lips curled up and her eyes widened.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah…" Alison nodded.
"Before you moved in I used to finish my shift every Sunday by staring up at the stars." Emily grinned in amusement.
Something lurched in Alison's chest as she slowly came to the same realization that Emily had come to moments before her. They probably had watched the stars together. They just didn't know it.
If that didn't scream "destiny" nothing did. Their fate had aligned just like the stars. Just the thought of it was enough to take her breath away.
"I always knew I could feel you with me." Emily kissed her forehead.
Alison couldn't explain why, but the idea of them watching the stars together even though they were thousands of miles apart brought tears to her eyes.
"I told you I thought about you every day." The brunette peppered her jaw with kisses. "And when I looked at the stars I closed my eyes and made a wish that we would find our way back to each other." She sighed. "I used to think that kind of thing was silly, but…here we are."
The timing was right. The feelings were there. Everything had happened the way it was meant to happen.
"I know my calls started tapering off. I wanted to call you every day. But I knew you were working through things…and that you needed time. And so did I." Emily propped herself up on her elbow and looked at Alison.
"You're right. We wouldn't have worked even if we had tried our hardest. I had to find my way." Alison had done more than found her way. She had found love again.
Emily nodded in agreement and then rolled to her side, moving her elbow, and laying her cheek down against the blanket.
Alison turned to meet her and pecked her lips. Emily felt Alison's gaze in her soul. The blonde looked at her like she had all the answers to life's questions.
Emily reached up and caressed Alison's cheek with her knuckles.
"I used to turn my head every time a blonde walked by me on the beach…hoping it was you." Her fingers tickled Alison's jaw.
"Really?" A warm sensation flooded Alison's chest.
Emily had been looking for her. She had been waiting for her.
"Really." Emily nodded. "Guess maybe I wasn't expecting to find you flailing in the water instead of working on your tan."
Alison scoffed.
"I was fine." Alison tried to scowl at her, but the crinkles in her forehead made Emily laugh.
"I'm glad I was there that day." Emily touched the tip of her nose.
"Yeah…" Alison felt like a hopeless romantic. "Me too." She nestled against Emily. "Let's go home."
When she pulled away she saw Emily giving her a look that was something between perplexed and amused.
"What are you staring at?" Alison asked.
"You just called the condo home." Emily had only ever heard her refer to it as the condo, though she'd thought of it as Alison's home the second Alison walked through the door.
It was always "Can we go back to the condo?" or "I left my sunglasses at the condo" and never "home".
"Oh…should…should I not have?"
"Of course it's your home too, Ali. It's just the first time I've heard you say it." Emily chuckled.
Despite their desire to stay on the beach all night, they both had things to do in the morning, so they slowly got dressed and packed their things up.
Alison warily checked her phone, going through all her alerts from her socials. A troll had commented on her TikTok of a brief behind the scenes look at filming.
Gone from small-time LIAR to professional LIAR! XOXO
Alison frowned and deleted it. She scrolled through her phone, looking at some of her recent messages. Hanna had sent her a picture of some of the designs she was working on and a picture of Cheese that Alison had requested.
She had two texts from Aria.
The Director absolutely loves you. I'm so excited!
Followed by,
Give me a call. Would love to catch up.
Alison typed in a quick reply,
Thanks so much for setting this up. I'll give you a call tomorrow. You make it to Rosewood okay?
She didn't expect Aria to answer, because it was the wee hours of the morning, but she saw little thought bubbles appear,
Flight was delayed. Went from night flight to red-eye. Back in Dumpster Fire Town. No panic attacks while traveling this time.
Glad you're there safe.
It's the staying safe part I'm worried about.
Alison looked at the screen sadly. Her friends had to live with what Charlotte had done to them for the rest of their lives.
She can't hurt you anymore. I know that doesn't make the things she did to you all better. But she can't hurt you.
Thanks, Ali.
Of course. Have a good time with your mom. And if you see my dumbass brother would you tell him to call me?
Sure.
They said their goodbyes.
Then she put her phone away and helped Emily haul everything away from the beach.
They ran into Samara and Zoe when they were walking towards the elevator of the condo. Zoe put her arm out in front of the doors to keep the elevator open for them.
Samara took one look at them and smirked.
When the elevator doors shut she turned to them.
"Late night skinny dip and some Cake by the Ocean?" She winked.
Alison and Emily laughed nervously.
"Oh my God, Samara. I can't take you anywhere." Zoe playfully popped her shoulder.
Her coiled curls bounced when she turned to face them.
"I know she's corny, but I love her."
"I am not corny." Samara shook her head.
"That was pretty cringe." Emily gave Samara a small shove. "What are you two doing out so late?"
"Late night call about a kid in need. 18-year-old ran away from an abusive home in Arizona. We had to scramble to get the paperwork in order for her." Samara twirled the van keyring around her finger.
"Never stops, does it?" Emily sighed.
"Not as long as there is bigotry and the Bible." Zoe uttered in irritation. She glanced at Alison. "I swear some of the most traumatized teens we work with come from homes where parents have tried to convert them or punished them for their sexuality."
Alison tried not to think about what Charlotte might have been like had their father not been so hateful and had their mother not hidden her away like some dirty little secret. But she also hated her, despite what she was a product of. She hated her even more after seeing Emily's fear on the beach. It reaffirmed that she'd made the right decision leaving Rosewood behind.
That didn't mean it was easy for her.
Her sister was a monster. That was undeniable. But she was still coming to terms with the fact it was possible to love and hate someone at the same time. She'd hated her back in Rosewood, too. But she felt responsible for her actions. Like part of it was her fault for not being the sister she needed.
She hated the complex feelings she still battled when it came to Charlotte. She was done with her, but that didn't mean she was over her past. It still hurt. The betrayal and utter appall she felt was a festering wound that wouldn't heal. She knew it was going to take time.
Instead she focused on the fact that there were resources for LGBTQ youth and that Emily was a part of making their lives better.
"They're very lucky to have you." Alison smiled.
"You should come check it out sometime." Samara suggested.
"I'd like that."
"Did you get the kid a place to stay?" Emily asked as the elevator doors opened on their floor.
"Yeah. Hours ago. We just had to finish up some paperwork…" Samara glanced at Zoe and smiled, sharing a joke between the two of them.
It didn't take Emily long to figure out what the joke was.
"The paperwork doesn't take that long." Emily realized for the first time that Samara's hair was messy and that her tank top was on backwards.
"Maybe the couch in the break room was involved." Zoe shrugged innocently.
"Ugh, come on guys…I nap on that thing." Emily teased them.
"Yeah...well...we nap on the beach. In our bikinis." Samara countered as she stepped off of the elevator and pulled Zoe along with her, both of them laughing.
"There is a lot more beach than there is of that couch!" Emily called after them.
"And we used a blanket." Alison added.
That sent Zoe and Samara into hysterics. Zoe turned around, spinning like a ballerina as Samara held her hand up above her head.
"Touché, Blondie!"
Emily's face turned a shade of red that Alison had never seen on her as she doubled over in laughter.
As they walked towards their door they waved goodnight to Zoe and Samara.
"And here I thought living next to your ex would be weird." Alison smiled as Emily unlocked the door.
They walked inside and Emily punched the alarm code in. Alison laid their beach bag next to the door. It could be tomorrow's worry.
She had more of an interest in round two with Emily in the shower as they washed the sand off of their bodies.
She didn't say anything. She just grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her towards the bedroom, shedding her suit along the way. Emily didn't complain. She followed suit.
They spent most of their night wrapped up in one another.
Despite their lack of sleep they were both able to pull themselves out of bed the next morning when Emily's alarm went off.
Alison yawned and sat up in bed. Emily was already throwing the covers off and pulling a shirt and some sweatpants on.
"I'm lucky my first class is online and I don't have to be dressed in actual clothes." Emily raked her fingers through her hair. "Not that I haven't shown up to class in my pajamas at school. No one cares."
Alison's head fell back against the pillow.
"You look good in everything. You should consider modeling with me. Your face…your legs…your…everything." Alison drank her in.
Emily smiled at her, placing her palms against the mattress and leaning over to kiss her.
"Mmm…you're still drunk on sex."
"I might be." Alison grinned.
"You still have an hour. You should take advantage of it and sleep." Emily pushed herself off of the bed.
Alison closed her eyes, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep with Emily in the next room.
"Why don't you just bring your laptop in here?"
"Uhh…because everyone would be paying attention to the beautiful blonde next to me instead of the instructor." Emily winked at her as she walked towards the door. "Sleep. That's an order."
Alison didn't mind the idea of a little extra sleep, but after ten minutes she gave up, growing restless without Emily next to her.
She utilized the time to get ready for her call time instead. They would do her hair and make-up on set, so all she had to do was the basics. She just needed to look presentable. Once she had picked an outfit and put on the most basic of make-up she grabbed her phone.
When she walked into the living room she saw Emily sitting on the couch. The studious college pro had several pages splayed out on the coffee table, along with an open textbook and her laptop.
"Maybe I can audit a few minutes of the class. Sit here quietly with you and learn some things?" Alison sauntered up behind her.
"I doubt you'll learn anything other than what's on the syllabus and the entire class by name." Emily yawned and ran her fingers through her messy hair.
Even when she was messy she was cute.
Alison sat her phone down on the table and rubbed Emily's arm.
"Want me to make you some coffee, babe?" Alison traced her index finger along the grooves on the back of Emily's neck.
"Yeah, that sounds good." Emily opened a desktop window and started tapping away on the keyboard.
Alison walked into the kitchen, leaving Emily to her devices.
Emily was pulling up the link to the video session of her class when she heard a buzzing sound.
She mindlessly reached for her phone, not realizing that it was Alison's phone. She was used to random calls at random hours because of her job at the LGBTQ Center.
She answered without even looking.
"Hello?"
At first she didn't hear anything, but she felt a strange chill run down her spine. Seconds later there was labored breathing and other noises she couldn't quite make out. Something about it made her skin prickle. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
When she pulled back to look at the caller ID she realized it wasn't her phone.
It made the strange breathing more ominous when she saw "Unknown Caller" lighting up the screen.
Suddenly, she was back in Rosewood. She was being tortured and tormented with unknown messages.
It felt too familiar.
"Who the hell is this?" She hissed into the phone. And why the fuck are you calling my girlfriend?
She heard a laugh, but she couldn't distinguish anything about it because the caller was using some sort of simulator.
The breathing faded, but she swore she could hear one word fading into the background.
"Americano."
Emily dropped the phone in shock.
Only one person in her entire life had ever called her that nickname.
Charlotte.
But it couldn't be her. According to Alison she wasn't allowed any phone time. She wasn't allowed near technology period.
There was a rustling noise and then a muffled voice that sounded like a man uttering a name she couldn't make out.
Then everything went silent.
She stared at the call, realizing whoever it was had hung up.
Was she hearing things?
She picked the phone up and started scrolling back through Alison's recent calls. She felt a pulsing sensation in her head when she realized that Alison got the calls frequently. She'd never mentioned them.
She was busy looking through her history when Alison walked in with two mugs of coffee.
When Emily looked up at her, Alison could see something was wrong.
"What's up?" Alison frowned.
Emily held up the phone, the screen showing the unknown calls.
"What's this about?" Emily stared at her, concern and fear flashing in her eyes.
"Oh…that." Alison tried not to overreact. "That's nothing. It's just a part of Hollywood. Random calls. I've been put on the Do not Call list, but you know how that goes…"
"Alison, this someone called me Americano…"
Alison felt ice in her veins. Her heart cinched in her chest. If it was her sister, now she knew that she was back together with Emily. It put her in danger.
"This doesn't feel right." Emily glared at the phone and then looked back at Alison. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Emily the Valiant.
Always her protector. Ironically, she'd hidden the calls from Emily to try and protect her.
"I didn't want to spook you." Alison put the coffee cups down in front of them.
"Spook me?" Emily's brow furrowed, but she couldn't help but smile at the choice of words. "I'm not a horse panicking over a plastic bag. I could have handled this."
"There's nothing to handle." But her tone betrayed her.
"You're worried." Emily cocked her head.
"I'm fine. I've got it under control."
"You thought that back in Rosewood, too. When Mona was sending you those A threats." Emily calling her out hurt her more than she thought it would. She was right, though. Handling things on her own had never gone well. "What if it's a stalker? Or…worse."
"It's not Charlotte. She's locked up." Alison grabbed her phone, her cheeks blossoming into a reddish pink color.
"Then how did the caller know her nickname for me? What if she has someone who decided to sneak in a phone for her? Or people on the outside willing to do her work? She's done it before."
Alison closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her eye sockets. She had been trying to avoid this.
"That's not what this is."
"You don't know that." Emily crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Emily, just don't, okay?" Her features tightened, her eyes narrowed. "This is my problem. And I don't want you involved. Not after…"
Not after my sister destroyed you.
She felt bile rising in the back of her throat at the visual images of Emily drowning in a well underground.
"We are in this together. If someone is threatening you, they're threatening me. And if you think I'm just going to stand by and let some weirdo call you…"
Alison's phone buzzed again and they both jumped.
But it was just her alarm.
"I have to be on set in half an hour. Can we talk about this later, please?" Alison pushed her lips out into a pout.
Emily's computer chimed at her, an alert about her class that was starting.
"Fuck." She muttered. She felt like she was completely off-balance.
Emily didn't like that Alison was downplaying it. She was clearly upset by the calls she'd been getting.
"Let's just…we need to take a breather. I know it scared you, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to find out like this."
"Were you even going to tell me?" Emily asked, no malice in her tone. "I mean, you've been getting these calls for weeks."
"I've been processing what to do. But I didn't mean to keep it from you." Alison reached for her hand. Emily let her take it, which was a good sign. "Don't be mad, okay?"
"I'm not mad. I'm worried about you." Her voice quivered.
Alison smiled at her, putting her palm against Emily's cheek.
"That's why I love you. But you worry yourself to death, Em." Her eyes softened. "We'll talk about it. I promise. But please don't let this get in the way of your life right now."
Another warning chime from Emily's computer reminded her about her class.
"Fine." She relented with a sigh.
"We'll figure something out, but it's an unknown number. Probably a burner. And it's probably just a deranged fan. But if it's a burner it's not like it can be traced."
The hell it can't be. Emily was already formulating a plan.
"Just promise me you'll be careful." Emily clutched her hand. "And check in with me. I don't want to be overbearing. But it'll just…it will make me feel better."
"Of course." Alison nodded.
The blonde kissed her and then reached for her mug. She didn't blame Emily for being paranoid. She was paranoid about it. But the last thing she wanted to do was bring back old trauma.
She knew Charlotte was still in Welby. That's all that mattered to her. Hang-up calls were fairly common, especially since she was in the spotlight. It could be something as simple as someone who had discovered everything about her past. Someone who was just pranking her for a laugh.
She tried to rationalize it, but she had a twisted feeling in her gut that something really bad was going to happen. She'd felt it ever since the nightmare she'd had about Charlotte accosting them in the night club. She just couldn't admit those feelings.
Alison bit her lip, not realizing she was chewing on it. Ironically, she was more upset about freaking Emily out than she was about the phone call.
She just wanted to go back to the beach…back to the stars. She wanted to leave Rosewood behind.
Emily noticed her strained posture. She saw the emotion in her eyes. Her natural instinct was to hold her, and that's exactly what she did.
"Hey…" Emily stood up, grasping Alison's cheeks. "I'm not mad at you." She brushed her hair aside. "I promise. We'll figure this out. It's going to be okay."
Alison managed a half-hearted smile.
"Love you."
"Love you, too." Emily pulled her in for a kiss before her computer screamed at her again.
"Better get to class." Alison laughed.
"You know your lines?" Emily asked.
"I had downtime to rehearse them on set yesterday." Sometimes Emily would help her run lines, but Alison was getting used to doing it on her own since she knew Emily was going to be bogged down with school work.
Emily nodded and then plopped back down on the couch.
Alison offered her a small wave as she grabbed her things and walked out the door.
Emily sighed as she leaned forward and joined the meeting for class.
The instructor popped on at the same time that she did.
She pulled up a folder and tried to follow along, but she was having trouble focusing on the professor.
Halfway through it she zoned out, muting the androgynous tone of the teacher and turning the camera off. Half the students had their cameras off and the instructor hadn't said a word about it. She could just read the syllabus later.
She picked up her phone, her finger hovering over it, trying to decide what she wanted to do. She grumbled and tossed the phone down on the sofa, running her hand through her hair in frustration.
Seconds later she was on her feet pacing the length of the couch. She stopped and stared at her phone again, bringing her thumbnail up against her mouth and biting down on it.
After weighing her options she realized she only had one option.
She sat down on the sofa, her legs feeling too light to hold her up.
Then she reached for the phone and called Caleb.
When he didn't answer she texted Hanna, hoping to get in touch with him through her.
Hey, you got a minute?
Several seconds went by before she got a reply,
I'm a New Yorker now. I have New York Minutes.
Emily smiled. Hanna always made her feel safe, providing a sense of normalcy.
She pulled up Hanna's number and sent a FaceTime request.
Seconds later she saw Hanna's kitchen swirling around on the screen. It looked like Hanna was mid-stride, but Emily couldn't tell because she wasn't on camera.
"Don't eat that!" Hanna exclaimed.
Emily snorted out a laugh. She could always count on Hanna for a good laugh.
"Weird way to start a conversation, but okay." Emily blurted her response out without even thinking.
"Hang on, Em." There was a rustling sound, more motion, and then the camera landed on a fat satisfied house cat who looked quite smug.
The camera flipped around and Hanna shook her head with a laugh.
"He was trying to steal my lunch." She looked down at him, making a face at him before looking back into the camera. "The little cat burglar. So, what's up?"
"Sorry to bother you…"
"Oh, please." Hanna rolled her eyes dramatically. "You are not a bother." She glanced at the screen and took in Emily's appearance for the first time. "Damn, why do you look like you just saw someone kick a puppy?"
"It's a long story." She rubbed her arm. "Look, is Caleb around? I need to ask a favor."
"He just so happens to be working from home today. And you caught me home for lunch. I was just making us something to eat." Hanna popped a carrot into her mouth.
"I didn't mean to interrupt…"
"It's fine." A male voice off-screen called back. A few seconds later Caleb walked into view. Fortunately, this time he was wearing pants. "Hey, Em. What's up? Sorry I didn't answer. I was finishing up a call. Is everything okay?"
"I'm not sure. I mean…Alison and I are both fine, but something weird happened this morning." She paused and walked back her words, "Well, I mean…something weird has been going on for weeks, but I just found out about it. Someone has been calling Alison from a blocked number and just…it's so creepy. The line stays open and someone is there breathing…like taunting her."
Hanna stiffened, all the color draining from her face.
Emily knew that look. She was back in the Dollhouse.
"It's probably nothing, Han," Emily said softly. "I just overreact to everything. And Alison is in the spotlight now, so it could just be a weird fan."
"That's still terrifying." Hanna swallowed hard.
"I hate to even ask, but…"
"You want to know if I can trace the number." Caleb finished her thoughts for her.
"Yeah." Emily nodded.
She wasn't sure whether Alison would approve of involving Caleb and Hanna, but Emily couldn't sit back and wait for something terrible to happen to her. Not again.
"I'll need a few things." Caleb rubbed his chin with his thumb. "But it's probably doable."
"Whatever you need. I'm worried she's being stalked, but she doesn't seem that concerned. I think she's trying to downplay it. You know how she is. She puts on a front. But she's scared. I can see it in her eyes."
Caleb and Hanna both glanced away from the screen, their eyes finding each other. High school had been hell for all of them. Their faces were awash with sympathy when they looked back at her.
"It's a good thing she has you." Caleb offered a tentative smile.
"And it's a good thing I have you two." Emily smiled back. "So, you think you can do it?"
"I just need her phone's IP address. I can walk you through how to get it. After I have that I can pull up the service provider's records and hack my way into the network…"
"She just needs a simple yes or no, Steve Jobs." Hanna pecked his cheek. She loved how smart he was about technology, but she heard enough about it without it seeping into their every day life.
"Steve Jobs wasn't a hacker." Caleb rebutted with a sly smile. "Mr. Robot would be more appropriate." He turned towards the camera again. "I can do it. Might not be able to get an exact location, but I can triangulate where it came from depending on the cell towers it pinged…"
"Okay, just tell me what I need to do."
"You can find the IP address in the account settings of her phone. It's usually in the "about phone" section. Just get that to me and I'll take care of everything else."
"Thank you so much."
"You don't have to thank me. You're family." He shrugged like it was nothing.
"You can always come to us." Hanna added.
"Would you two mind keeping this between us? I don't want to upset Spencer and Aria."
"Yeah, I get that." Hanna nodded.
"Thanks, Han."
Something crashed off-screen, drawing their attention away from the camera.
"Cheese!" They both shouted at the same time.
Caleb swooped off screen and Hanna rubbed her temple with her fingers like she was fighting a migraine.
"That cat is worse than a toddler when the food comes out." She was mildly irritated, but also mildly amused.
When Caleb came back on screen he had a very content fluffball in his hands. Cheese's eyes were half-closed. Emily could hear the sounds of his purrs vibrating in the speaker. It was a much more pleasant sound than creepy ragged breathing.
"Shoot me a text when you get the info from Alison's phone." Caleb flipped Cheese over so that he was on his back.
Emily watched in amusement as he cuddled the cat. Caleb acted like a tough guy, but the cat revealed how soft he truly was inside.
It was somewhat of a reminder of why Emily loved Alison so much. She wasn't perfect. She had flaws. She was rough around the edges. Yet…Alison possessed a certain charm…a certain quality that made it impossible for Emily to look away.
"Thanks again. Enjoy your lunch." Emily waved to her friends before they hung up.
She felt slightly better now that she had a plan in motion. It wouldn't be hard to swipe Alison's phone for a few minutes. She already knew her password. Her hope was that Caleb could help them track down where the calls were coming from and she could put a stop to them. Because Alison deserved peace and happiness. And Emily wanted to give that to her.
She was willing to do whatever it took.
She refused to lose her again.
A/N: Ah, our girls are slowly opening up to each other. You'll see a little more of that moving forward. I loved writing and editing this chapter. I love intimate Emison beach scenes and feel we should have had one on the show. But of course, it's not PLL without a little trauma. Alison's time on the run and Emily's experience in the Dollhouse weren't easy to write.
So...how are we enjoying Alison's slow-rise to fame? Who is on the other end of those calls? Where the hell is Jason? Why is Cheese my favorite character? What do you think about Emily reaching out to Caleb for help? So many questions.