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two ; a funeral fix

GUYS! As some of you may have realized, there have been an abundance of newly created fandom Community accounts floating about, and there's finally one centering around our favorite Liars! You can follow and get involved with their project here, pllcommunity. I know they currently have a Fanfic of the Week going, and I'm sure they'll have plenty more ways to get involved within the fandom, too. Also, huge thanks to those of you that nominated me for the PLL Fanfic of the Week; I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this! 

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CHAPTER TWO;

A FUNERAL FIX

     Gwendolyn Brantley found that a twenty-four hour time gap between the discovery of Alison's body, the identification that settled the ambivalent atmosphere, and the actual funeral had done nothing to aid the girl in her constant battle to maintain a sense of stillness within her chest. When her heart wasn't splintering her ribcage in its rapid bouts of heavy beating, and her lungs weren't constricting with the lack of oxygen they were receiving, her head was being weighted with an unremitting headache that no amounts of Ibuprofen seemed capable of relieving. 

     But all the while her body seemed keen on aching in momentary spells, it was her mind that refused to rest. Shortly after the resurfacing of Alison's corpse, two out of three bedrooms in the Brantley household had been left for the night to consume. The third bedroom accommodated the teenage girl; and, had the brisk, night air failed to filter through the open windows situated on the dully hued walls, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that she would have more than likely suffocated during the lengthy, restive hours that she spent tossing and turning beneath restricting sheets. Nostalgia had never made itself so completely present in Gwen's life until she was left to lay and part with her thoughts, except, it had become relatively clear when her eyes were still wide open by the time morning hit the next day that reminiscing back onto the years during which Alison played a rather large part in the everyday life of Gwendolyn Brantley was the only thing she'd be doing that night. 

     Even now, hours after the sun appeared in the sky, Gwen was still having difficulty wrapping her head around the fact that Alison DiLaurentis was laying still in a coffin somewhere within the building that she stood before. Much like Emily's street just hours prior to the wake, the church was practically swamped with mourners, every last one claiming to have upheld a relationship with the DiLaurentis girl. There was something so completely sickening about the thought of people placing themselves into false situations with the deceased blonde girl that had Gwen's stomach lurching at the sight of the masses of people, and the urge to turn and run only grew with each and every consolation that was sent her way alongside sympathetic smiles. It was as if time slowed to a halt when Gwen finally realized that she should probably go inside and find a seat, and that moment was also the time during which a tan arm looped through her own wavering limb. 

     "Hey," Emily muttered quietly, offering the smallest of smiles after catching a glance at her best friend's current state. It wasn't like Emily was coping any better than the latter, though, because even the Fields girl had traces of lingering tears brimming her own set of dark eyes. Gwen hadn't cried over Alison, and she found that for some strange reason, she couldn't. She had eventually chalked it down to the circumstances not having fully settled in within her head, but even that was disproved due to the fact that Gwen wouldn't, couldn't, be feeling the way that she did if she hadn't come to terms with reality thus far. Nodding in response to Emily's words, Gwen pulled her best friend in for a long hug rather than settling for the hooked arms. Spencer approached the duo next, wrapping an arm around both girls before squeezing tightly. Mrs. Fields had been the next to throw her arms around Gwen, the woman patting the teenage girl's back reassuringly before tugging both Gwen and Emily into the building after the Hastings.