Emison: She's Back

Don't You Love Me?

< Alison's POV >

I sit in my car and text Em.

A: Sleepover @ my house?
E: IDK...
A: Please. Just ask friends.
E: IDK...
A: Just like old times. We need to talk.
E: I'm with Paige.
A: So? Please Em.
E: Fine. I'll be there @ 7.
A: XOXO

And I drive to my house to get ready. I shower and make the bed. I hear the doorbell ring through the house. I casually walk to the door and open it. 'This is your last chance, Ali. Don't screw it up.' I think to myself.

"Hey Em! Thanks for coming!" I say, trying to hide my excitement.

"Listen, Ali. I'm sorry for yelling at your earlier. I shouldn't have done that." She says genuinly as she grabs my hands.

"It's okay, Em. I deserve it." I say, smiling back.

"Are you? Okay?" That's what I love about Em. I can't lie. She knows the truth. She can read me. And even with my terrible lies, she stills accepts me.

"No, not really." I mumble. Emily sits me down on the couch.

"Talk to me." She welcomes. But I didn't want to hurt her. So I didn't say anything. "Please." She begs.

"You know I love you, right?" I ask, shyly. I know I need to tell Emily how I truly feel or else Paige will do it gor me. I would rather it come from me.

"Yeah I know. I love you too." She said smiling. But she didn't understand. I loved Emily as MORE than a friend.

"No, Em. I mean, I love you. I really love you." I say firmly. But inside, I'm scared. It was the live or die moment. Either she says she loves me back, or she doesn't. I braced myself for the worst. But it never came.

She said nothing. She just kind of stared at me, stunned.

"Emily, please say something." I say, trying to hide my emotions. But I knew. She didn't love me back.

"I don't know what you want me to say." She says, staring into my eyes.

"Don't you love me, Em?" My eyes were beginning to water. I could feel my stomach turn and do a backflip.

"I can't do this." She says getting up. "You can't do this to me, Alison. I loved you through everything you put me through. And you broke my heart. I still hear it crack inside of me." She says. And before I could notice, tears were rolling down my face.

"Emily-" I begin. But I didn't know what to say.

"Why can't you just let me be happy? I finally get my life back together and then you waltz back in and try to split me and Paige up? You can't do that to me, Alison." She says, and she storms out the door.

I chase after her. But I trip and fall on the porch. But she was gone. I just repeated her name over and over. And for the first time in my entire life, I was completely alone.

***A month later***

< Aria's POV >

Things have been out of whack this past month. Emily and Alison barely look at each other and they don't talk. Neither of them will talk about what happened. But I could already guess.

I kept my word. I didn't tell anybody about how Ali was in love with Emily. But that put a divide between me and Spencer and Hanna. They knew I was hiding something, and they didn't like it.

Alison was broken. It wasn't like before. She was truly broken. She never smiled. She never talked. And she never ate. It worried me. A lot.

Emily and Paige broke up. But they are still friends. I guess Emily didn't feel the sparks anymore. But Emily never seemed to notice that Ali was depressed.

"Hey Ali. I was wondering if you wanted to sleep over tonight...?" I asked.

She didn't respond. She just stared straight ahead, not even blinking. It was like she was there, but she wasn't.

"Ali, hey, I know that you are hurting. If you want to talk, we can skip the rest of the day and go back to my house." I offered. Alison had isolated herself from everybody else. She didn't talk to anyone and she mostly sat by herself.

And for the first time in weeks, she turned her head and replied a simple "okay." And that was good enough for me.

We ditch chemistry and go to the Grill for lunch. Ali ordered a sandwich but she only took one single bite.

"Ali, you need to eat." I tell her. She sighs and picks at her sandwich. "What's going on, Ali?" I ask, sympathetically. She looks up with me, like she's about to cry. "Ali please don't cry." I say as I move next to her so I can comfort her.

"I'm all alone, Aria. Nobody cares about me. Nobody loves me." She says, staring straight ahead. But she didn't cry. She just spoke.

"Ali, you are not alone. Your friends are here for you. I will always be here for you." I say, rubbing her back.

"I told Emily I loved her." She confessed as she looked to the ground.

"What happened?" I asked. I had to pick and choose my words well. Alison was like a house of cards. One wrong move and she breaks.

"She said that I destroyed her life by coming home." Ali explained. And that was her breaking point. She began to cry hysterically. I give her a big hug, but it wasn't big enough. "She says she's happy with Paige." She sobs.

"Listen, Ali. You did NOT ruin Emily's life. She loved you. And now she's worried she will get hurt again. Just give it time. She will come back to you. I promise." And I squeezed her tight.

It's a very rare thing to see Alison so vulnerable. But it's like a blue moon when she cries in public. That's whn you know that she's at her breaking point. That's when you know it's too much.

"So Me, Spencer, and Hanna are going to a beach resort in Mexico for a week for spring break. Do you want to come? We already bought your plane ticket..." I said, trying to get her mind off things.

She wipes her eyes and blows her nose, trying to make herself look presentable.

"What about Emily?" She asks.

"She has to ask her parents." I say, bracing myself for more tears. But no tears came.

"I'll go if Emily goes." She says. And then it happened. Alison gave me a small smile.