Hatchetfield and Friends

10 - 36 Lies

Content Warning: Drug mention, overdose, death, murder mention

"Paul, please, please wait! I'm sorry!"

"No, Emma, this is it! Everything I knew about you is a lie, I don't even know who you are!"

"God, please don't go! You do know me, Paul! I'm still the person you've been with for the past few years, I'm still that person!"

Emma felt tears streak down her face as she pleaded with Paul, her heart pounding, blood rushing in her ears. She never thought he could find out the truth, but here they were, the truth served to him on a silver platter by Tom, her brother-in-law. 

"How? I want to believe you, Emma, I really do, but I don't think I can."

"I'm still the same person, okay? Nothing has changed, only my name. I'm Emma, Emma Perkins. Not Kelly, Emma! But nothing else has changed!"

"Oh, other than the fact that you kept this huge secret from me, not including your real name and past."

"Paul...my life started when I spotted you in the park, sitting with a dog. I stopped and asked, 'can I pet your dog?'

"You remembered me from the coffee shop..."

 "Yeah. And so there we were, me and this golden retriever, basking in the abundance of sun Hatchetfield summers provide. And suddenly, you blurted out, 'This isn't my dog, actually it's my friend's dog, Sheila, I'm taking care of her while he's away. She's on a lot of medication'"

Paul winces. "Oh, yeah. Bill's dog. That was, uh, a stupid thing to say."

"Well I laughed, and you laughed, saying you didn't wanna be found out when you asked me to coffee and there was no dog. I said yes and you said, 'I'm Paul, what's your name?' And I heard the perfect opportunity to be someone else entirely, free from my history. For one single cup of coffee I would be Kelly. "

"Well, one didn't happen did it?" Paul raises his eyebrows. 

Emma shook her head and looked down with a small, sad smile. "Obviously that's not how it went down. One cup of coffee turned into two bottles of wine, three desserts, and staying up talking until four in the morning. Too late to backpedal. Too good not to keep going"

"Why did you do it? Why keep lying?"

"It felt like my life, but a better version. With you in my life, I was a better person. I heard music in the words you were saying, melodies with no band playing. For the first time, I was in love, and I loved who I was with you. All the mundane shit I used to hate like recycling plastic and flossing every day, making breakfast, paying bills, watering the plants on our window sill was invigorated with your sense of wonder. Pillow talk, afternoon walks, holding hands in the parking lot of Home Depot dealing with inevitable misfortunes that were barely manageable, like that time we accidentally hit a squirrel with your car...that was an unfortunate anecdote. Do you know what I mean?"

"I...guess? Maybe? Emma, I loved you. But you didn't need to lie! You could've told me the truth."

"Could I have? My parents finally tracked me down, after years of jumping from town to town they found you and me. Men in suits at our front door asking you about Emma Perkins and I knew instantly...they say before you die your whole life flashes before your very eyes. Well, it didn't the first time but this time I heard each and every lie I'd ever told you, I tried to cling to the life I'd made together with you, so I did the only thing I knew how to. I denied who I was because I wanted to keep my life, but the better version. Kelly, your girlfriend, she was a better person."

"Emma, why the hell would your parents be tracking you down? And what, you wanted to just discard your entire history and keep on going like nothing ever happened?"

"Well, it isn't that simple, but basically, yeah."

"That didn't mean you have to lie to me all those years. I get that you didn't wanna be dragged down by your past, but fuck you, Emma. I trusted you..."

"Paul! I am not the only one in the wrong here! You left without a fucking word! I memorized your voice and how you say goodbye but you never said goodbye. I held onto our life and who I was with you. Yeah, I fucked up, I should've come clean earlier, but I didn't because I was scared. No, I was terrified. I was terrified you'd leave, you would turn me in, something. Would you have told me if you were in my position?"

"Maybe, probably, I don't know because I've never really broken the law, Emma!"

"Look, I'm sorry okay? How many times do I have to say that. You know I'll never forgive myself, for the drugs, for the murder, for you. I...I just couldn't leave you."

"What even happened with that, Emma? The truth."

"I...it was mostly my parents. When I lived with them, I had to do things to help pay the bills. Selling drugs was one of them. And, I never actually killed anyone, my dad had someone in his corner make this 'accident' happen, but when things got too risky, they pinned me for it, but by then I'd already left for Guatemala. I knew what they were doing and I didn't want to be a part of it anymore. Jane was always in the dark, she was the golden child, the one that would carry out our family if the rest of us went to prison. Well, my dad went to jail, but not for the murder. My mom, when she found out the HFPD were coming for her used drugs as a way out and landed herself in a grave. My sister still doesn't know. 

"I'm sorry your parents fucked you up, Em. I...I can understand why you wouldn't wanna tell me, but I wish you would've. Are...are the police gonna show up at my door anytime soon, or?"

            Emma laughs, feeling the tension fade just a tad, and the knot in her stomach uncoiling, the pressure on her chest easing up. "No, the drugs were in high school. I doubt that anyone is gonna come for me for high school. As for the guy my dad got killed...his death has still been pegged as an accident. Even if my dad gets caught or I get caught, I know everything that happened and there's probably evidence against me being the murderer. So, we should be fine, okay?"

"Okay. I still don't know how long it's going to be before I can really trust you again, but I...I still want to be with you. Well, I never didn't want to be with you, but after this conversation, after you told me the truth, all the shit that happened and why, I understand. I'm sorry that I left you Emma, I'm sorry I didn't give a warning, didn't say goodbye. Honestly, we've been through so much together, and after all the crazy shit that's gone down in Hatchetfield, I think we can get through this."

"So...we're okay now?"

"Yeah, Em, we're okay. We'll be okay. 

A/N: Hey, here you go, two chapters in one day, one long one really short. THESE ARE NOT  COMPLETELY MY OWN WORDS! I changed it up to fit the story more, but this came from a podcast musical that's low-key hard to find. I mean, the songs you can easily come upon on YouTube, but the actual podcast and the rest of the podcast for the songs is a little more tricky to find. It's honestly a great musical, one of my favorites that isn't StarKid. The song is called  A Better Version, and part of the name of the podcast is in the title, so if you really wanna go find this hidden treasure that the fans of this podcast want to get more popular but also to remain a lil secret, go for it! You most likely won't regret it. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!