Silence is the worst thing (Emison)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24
Emily felt the night's cool air shatter against her skin as Jason lifted off her, taking his body heat with him. Her skin hurt, it was a pulsing pain that burnt through her veins and she wasn't even sure how she managed to move her body from the pile of blood that lay beneath her.
She wasn't sure it could all be hers but as she watched Jason slowly walk away from her she mustered the strength to turn her body away and trudge down the alley.
The only sound around was the rain and her heart beating in her ear.
It was loud, too loud and it was distracting enough that the brunette had no time to hear Jason come up from behind.
Seconds later a sharp piercing pain entered her back and before she could react Emily felt her body hit the ground once more.
Jason was leaning over her, his eyes pierced into her own the way broken piece of glass collided with her skin.
"Thanks for a fun night, Emily." Jason winked before dropping the glass and disappearing.
Emily's body shivered profusely but she didn't feel cold, she didn't feel anything besides the pain in her back. In an attempt to stop the bleeding she moved her hands to hold the wound tight but after a few seconds the only movement she could manage was a small heart beat. She lay limp in the middle of a dark, wet alley and no one knew she was there.
She tried screaming but no words left her lips.
Time passed, whether it was five minutes of five years she couldn't tell. She had given up, her body hurt and she felt hopeless.
She could still hear Jason's voice in her head, calling her name, telling her to be quiet, to say his name.
"Say it!" She heard over and over again though he was long gone.
"SAY IT!"
"Emily?"
Suddenly her eyes opened and it as morning, there was sun trying to beam through the shutters and Alison was leaning over her, holding her tightly.
"Are you okay?" Alison's voice was beyond worried which only made Emily feel worse, she felt horrible for making the blonde stress so badly.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry."
"Em..." Alison's hand went to Emily's forehead that was sweating copiously.
"I'm okay." Emily persisted but she knew Alison saw passed it.
"You were screaming... a lot." Alison's hand left Emily's body and she instantly missed the contact, she also instantly regretted being so distant from Alison, she knew the blonde was there to help.
"I'm sorry Ali. I didn't mean to wake you." Emily moved her hands towards Alison and with the morning stiffness she felt weaker than what she felt yesterday.
"You didn't wake me. What were you dreaming about?" Alison watched as Emily intertwined their fingers and instantly felt more relaxed.
"Jason." She finally answered after several long moments of silence and Alison felt her heart breaking at the tone of Emily's voice.
"Are you okay?" She managed as she swallowed the large lump gathering in the back of her throat. Emily nodded shyly and looked away before Alison's piercing blue orbs could distract her from telling the truth.
Alison was aware of Emily's concern, she knew that Emily was lying and she knew it was because the topic was Jason. Instead of pushing she moved to tenderly hold Emily's cheek and kissed her.
"You don't need to be afraid me, Em."
"I'm not. I just..." But she Emily couldn't finish, she was in denial and scared, she was struggling and it was difficult to open up.
"Just?" Alison pushed this time.
"I haven't moved on from what happened. It still lingers in the back of my mind and sometimes I struggle to forget about it."
Alison observed Emily, the brunette had had enough on her plate the moment she left the hospital, and it wasn't exactly what she wanted her to be thinking about. In an attempt to comfort, Alison gently pulled Emily into a sweet embrace and kissed her forehead.
Just thinking about Jason was hurting her so she was struggling to imagine how Emily must have been feeling.
"You'll get through it Em, I'll help you." Her thoughts moved towards Jason, she knew he was getting out with good behaviour but she didn't have the heart to break hat news to her, she didn't think the brunette could cope.
Emily smiled at Alison's support and raised her hand to meet with the blonde's soft cheek.
"How did I get so lucky?" Both smiled before moving in for a kiss but before anything could get too heated there was a soft knock at the door.
"Alison?" Pam called from behind the closed door; she quietly turned the handle and made her way into the room. "Oh good morning, I didn't realise you girls would be up."
"Morning, Mum." Emily murmured, while still huddled up next to Alison who had shifted when Pam entered the room.
"Good morning sweetie, sorry if I woke you. Ali, I was just going to ask if you were going to school today?" Alison sighed, she had forgotten that it was no longer the weekend and she dreaded the thought of going to school but with final exams approaching she didn't really have a choice.
"Yes, I'd better go." She replied, unhappily. She wasn't at all pleased about leaving Emily's side.
"Well Wayne and I were discussing, and if it's alright with Em, you can take her car since she won't be driving anywhere for the time being." Pam looked over at Emily for permission but she already knew what the answer was.
"Yeah, of course." She smiled happily.
"Oh that's okay Pam; I can get Spencer to pick me up."
"Don't be silly, now you'd best be getting ready." Pam left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Alison no time for a rebuttal.
"You can't tell my mum no." Emily chuckled as she looked from the door to the stunned Alison.
"Apparently." Alison turned to face her, she was still evidently tired, her unbandage eye had dark purple lines underneath it and she was still slightly pale from the loss of blood. It was a long recovery and it was going to be a struggle but the only thing the brunette was actually worried about was her lung. With the nasal cannula still looping around her ears to her nose and the oxygen tank joining the pair on the bed Emily couldn't help but let out a small sigh as Alison slowly moved out from under the blankets.
"I don't have to go, Em." She mumbled, sitting back on the bed grabbing the brunette's hand.
"I don't want you to but you should go." Alison smiled at Emily's sentiment before leaning to give her a quick peck on the lips.
Alison made her way over to the bag of clothes she had managed to grab from her parent's house and dug for some fresh clothes.
Emily watched as Alison slowly undressed.
It was clear that she was still half asleep and unable to clip up her bra; the brunette couldn't help but laugh softly before Alison turned around.
"Do me a favour? Hook it for me, would you?" Her arms were hurting; it had never occurred to her that she was injured. Alison didn't remember getting hurt by Noel but that might have been because she was so focused on Emily. She slouched over to the brunette and sat on the bed, waiting for her bra to be done up.
Emily smiled softly and managed to hook them together; softly she kissed Alison's shoulder and lay back on the bed, noticing small finger bruises on the blonde's upper arm.
"What's wrong with your arm?" She questioned, feeling worry spread through her as her hand instinctively went to the offending marks upon the blonde's body.
Alison's eyes followed her hands as they pressed against the sensitive skin.
"It's nothing, Em. I'm okay." Alison lied, the bruises themselves didn't overly hurt but her shoulder had been feeling particularly sore the last week and she was beginning to wonder why. At first she thought it might have been a sore muscle but it hadn't been getting better.
"You know, you used to be a very good liar but that was just terrible. What happened? Please tell me." Emily felt she was probably pushing Alison too hard but she couldn't tell her leave without knowing what was wrong.
"When I was at the hospital, when you were in surgery, my dad showed up. When I wouldn't go home with him he pulled me out, I'm guessing that's what it's from." Alison sighed and looked away from Emily slightly embarrassed, she quickly pulled a shirt over her head and ignored the pain that shot up her arm.
"Come here." Emily raised her hand to Alison, encouraging her to take it. The gesture made her smile and she moved towards the brunette. As she took her hand Emily kissed it and smiled. "I'm sorry he did that, Ali."
"It's okay. I'll be fine."
"If it's not better by the end of the week, will you please get it checked out?"
"I will."
Walking through the hallways Alison felt isolated, even with her friends at her side. People were still staring even after a week had passed.
"Just ignore them." Hanna said loudly as she linked her arms with Alison supportively, being aware of how frustrated the blonde was becoming. Alison nodded and made her way to her locker. There was a large note tapped across it and written in poor writing was "DYKE".
"Well that's original." Alison mumbled sarcastically as everyone around her waited for a response. Spencer, Hanna and Aria looked worried beyond all reason before Alison pulled the note off, scrunched it up and threw it to the floor, ignoring the message.
Everyone that had circled around from a distance was slightly disappointed but continued with their own conversations.
"You handled that well." Spencer commented as she gained access to her own locker.
"I don't really see what's so insulting, especially since it's true. I'm not ashamed of who I am or who I'm with, I love Emily. Their attempt at making me feel bad failed, miserably." Alison said as put her text books back in their rightful place, she was happy it was lunch; it meant she had made it through half of the day.
Spencer, Hanna and Aria exchanged looks of astonishment at Alison's maturity but before any of them could speak they heard a voice come from behind them.
"Alison?" Alison turned to see her mother walking down the hallway.
"Mum? Hi." She muttered awkwardly. "It's been a while."
"I'm sorry sweetie. Phillie has been really busy." Jessica smiled at her daughter and noticed how different she looked. Her hair wasn't all done up like it used to and she had no makeup on but she looked comfortable, a lot had changed in a few months.
"Yeah I'm sure trying to get Jason out of prison is really hard. Considering how much of an asshole he is." Jessica, Spencer, Hanna and Aria looked towards Alison in surprise, Hanna's mouth even dropped open.
"So you know then?"
"Of course I know. I know you saw Noel's videos Mum; they were all over the news." Alison was becoming very frustrated with her mother and she had only seen her for, what? Twenty seconds.
"Alison, that Emily girl is no good for you. She's filled your head with lies." Jessica's voice was calm and collected but when four heads shot her way she felt very out numbered.
"What?" They all said in unison.
"Jason didn't hurt her, he said he didn't."
"You are just as delusional as Dad; Jason is in prison for a reason Mum!" Alison was glad that everyone that had been in the hallway had disappeared outside for lunch.
"So he's made some mistakes, he's going to have a fresh start now." Alison's eyes widen at her mother's reveal.
"Wait... he's out?"
"Yes. He got out yesterday, your father and I brought him home." Jessica smiled, ignoring Alison's tone. The blonde looked away from her mother and towards her friends who all had the same worried look on their faces.
"Why are you here?" Alison questioned trying to control herself.
"We want you home, all of us, we miss you." Jessica continued to smile while Alison's hands shook with fury; it took all the strength she had to keep herself from screaming.
"Really? Well can you and Dad accept my feelings for Emily?" Alison asked rhetorically, she already knew the answer by the look of disgust on her mother's face.
"Ali sweetie, you're just confused." Alison was about to launch at her mother when her phone suddenly went off in her pocket.
It was obvious that her friends were glad that some tension had been broken.
"Hello, Em." Alison answered as she looked at the caller ID.
"Hi! Alison! It's Pam." Pam's voice was flustered and it automatically caused anxiety to shoot through Alison and forget about her mother.
"Pam? What's wrong? Is Emily okay?" She walked away from the older DiLaurentis and heard her friends follow, leaving Jessica alone in the hallway.
"She's just been having bad nightmares all morning, she keeps calling for you." Pam was slightly calmer now that she was talking to someone about it but it was still slightly terrifying to hear Emily scream while sleeping and not being to help.
"I'll be over right away." Alison felt Hanna at her side trying to listen in on the conversation, obviously very worried about Emily as well.
By the time Alison had made it to the car she had said her goodbyes to Pam and began searching for her keys in her bag.
People that had been enjoying their lunches looked on curiously as Alison and her friends made their way to her vehicle. It was obvious to the blonde that her friends were going to tag along to find out the outcome, she figured it was a lost cause to argue so when she found her keys she unlocked the car and threw her bag inside.
"Alison, please. Don't choose that liar over your own blood; we're your family for goodness sakes!" Suddenly Jessica was at the car and holding Alison's arm tightly, causing a tight pain to course through her already sore arm.
"We might share the same blood Mother but we are not family." Alison pulled away from Jessica's tight grip and sat herself in Emily's car. Starting the engine she didn't bother to look back at her mother and instead turned out from the curb and drove around the corner.
"You are fierce." Hanna mumbled from the passenger seat, hiding from Alison's terrifying eyes.
"I was just standing up from Em."
"Yeah but usually you'll just raise your voice. However, I think it was scarier what you just did then." Aria commented from the back seat, Spencer hummed in agreement and those were the last words spoken the entire drive.
Alison wasn't even sure she had fully stopped the car and turned off the engine before jumping out and running down the path to Emily's house.
She didn't even bother knocking before entering but instead burst through the door and up the stairs, her three friends struggling to keep up.
"Jeez, I don't remember her ever being this fast." Hanna said as she started up the front path.
"She did win state track when she was younger." Spencer lifted her finger matter-of-factly.
"Yeah that was before she wore high-heels." Aria replied sarcastically.
By the time Alison had made it to the stairs she could hear soft mumbling behind Emily's closed door, at first she thought it was Pam's voice but when she listened harder she realised it was Emily.
Softly knocking on the door Alison slighted her head through to see if she was allowed to enter. Pam was sitting beside a sleeping Emily, holding against her forehead a damp cloth to cool her down, she was muttering words that Alison couldn't understand from a distance.
Pam turned to look at Alison gratefully; she waved her hand to come in and stood from the bed.
"I'm sorry I called Ali, I just didn't know what to do. She's been calling for you; it was just hard to... to watch." Pam looked like she had been crying, her eyes were blood shot and her cheeks were puffy and red, it was heart breaking for Alison to witness.
"Don't be sorry."
"She just needs you I think."
"I'll see what I can do, now go make yourself a coffee, you deserve one." Pam smiled and wiped her eyes softly before patting Alison on the shoulder and leaving the room.
Every few seconds Emily would toss and turn in her sleep, the cloth that still lay against her head was slipping so Alison quickly made her way to the brunette's side and moved the fabric away from her eye that wasn't covered with a bandage.
At the slightest movement Emily flinched and struggled in her sleep, her closed eye scrunched up in pain, it was obvious that the sudden fuss was causing the brunette unneeded pain.
"Emily..." Alison whispered as she wiped the cloth against her head, though it seemed relatively useless at that point since she was working so hard to move away from it. "It's me, I need you to relax."
Alison removed the cloth and replaced it with her hand, slowly stroking Emily's forehead she wiped the damp hair that was falling in front of her face and every so often she would murmur something Alison couldn't understand.
"Emily... I need you to wake up." Alison didn't particularly want to force her awake but at the same time she didn't want the brunette causing pain for herself.
"He's gonna... hurt... me..." Emily mumbled and it somewhat surprised Alison, her words were so clear and heartbreaking.
"No he won't. I'm here Em." Alison wasn't sure if Emily was talking about Jason or Noel but either way she wasn't going to let her have any more nightmares over it.
Slowly Alison lowered her lips to Emily's, her lips were dry and they were trembling but at Alison's touch they calmed.
Emily's eyes flickered open; it was a very comforting sight to have Alison there, especially since she had just been having nightmares. The constant images of Jason running through her mind, it was torturing her. The experience with Noel was something she could handle but with Jason even now, a year later, she was still haunted with the experience.
It had caused her to stopped talking for months; she had cried herself to sleep almost every night.
Granted Noel's experience was definitely a damaging one physically and emotionally but Jason got inside Emily's head. He was good at it and he knew that.
But to wake up from such horrible dreams to Alison's beautiful eyes gave her comfort and hope. Lifting her hand that ached from too much movement she brought it to Alison's face, trying to convince herself that it was definitely not a dream.
"Ali..." She whispered; her voice weak and broken.
"I'm here." She replied soothingly, wiping away a tear that fell from Emily's eye while moving into her touch.
"I'm scared." She felt Alison's arms snake around her comfortingly before pulling her into her chest.
"It's okay; you don't need to be anymore." Slowly Alison's stroked Emily's hair and felt the small scar from the bottle Jason had hit her with. The feeling of the bumpy skin made Alison's stomach twist.
Emily's hands found their way into Alison's hair and drew her into a deep kiss, softly her fingers twisted and intertwined in the blonde's soft golden locks and held her close.
In the mist of the kiss neither girl was aware of the curious eyes of their three friends lingering by the half opened door.
"I think my heart is melting." Hanna whispered to the hunched over Spencer and Aria who were trying to get a better look over her. "I've never see her like this."
"She really is different, isn't she?" Aria matched Hanna's volume.
"She's happy." Spencer agreed.
"But what about Jason?" Aria asked as she pulled Spencer and Hanna away from the door.
"I don't know, I guess we'll make sure he keeps his distance." Hanna crossed her arms defensively and tried peeking through the door occasionally.
"Why do I have a bad gut feeling he's going to make this difficult?" Aria questioned, Spencer and Hanna looked at each other, knowing Aria was right. Slowly the taller brunette rubber her forehead and sighed before replying.
"Because you know Jason well. We're all thinking it Aria, if he's back; he's going to make it known."