Empty Gold

Chapter 27: Bad Blood by Bastille

"Pepe! Pepe, boy where are you?" Alison calls throughout the upstairs as she searches for the dog with a puzzled frown. She could've sworn three hours ago, early in the afternoon when she had started her chores, Pepe had still been fast asleep in her room. Since then, she's studied, done both her and Emily's laundry, cleaned the dishes, prepped dinner, and tidied Hanna's room—the designer had begged her to help out and clean it in exchange for Hanna cooking dinner instead of Ali. They've all been taking turns with chores, Aria, Hanna, and Ali, and not Spencer because they're all aware the manager has been at her wit's end lately. Ali doesn't mind doing the extra chores because whenever she helps when she's free, the others will pick up her chores on other days and she's learning to use that to her advantage when Emily wants to spend time with her.

The blonde looks around a little worried that she can't find her little buddy. It's his dinner time, and he is usually pestering her for his meal ahead of time. She supposes he's lately also usually pestering her for some affection that she hasn't had the time to give because of her schedule and Emily. Alison hopes her neglect hasn't caused him to turn against her, she holds Pepe very close to her heart. Even though he doesn't sleep on her bed every night anymore, she hopes he knows how much she still loves him. She feels her heart twinge slightly at the notion and she continues to look for him.

"Pepe!"

x-x-x

Meanwhile, Emily is sprawled out on the lawn, stomach down, on a towel while wearing the skimpiest of skimpy bikinis, with none other than her loyal sheltie. The two of them are exhausted, to say the least. They breath deeply, practically in sync, as Pepe pants twice for every one of Emily's deep breaths. The swimmer had wandered through the house, bored out of her mind today, when Pepe had bounded over to her from Ali's room.

"Hey boy," Emily coos kindly as she kneels down in front of the dog and pets him affectionately. Pepe's mouth drops open and his tongue hangs out as if he is smiling at Emily cheekily before he leans up and slobbers his tongue over her face. Emily sputters as she scrunches her face up, letting him kiss her for a moment before pushing his muzzle away. He's unusually eager for affection from Emily, usually that falls into Ali's domain. Emily scratches him behind the ears affectionately—he is after all her dog. "Okay, okay enough. Wanna go play fetch? Yeah, you still remember how?"

Emily teases with a grin as she watches Pepe whimper in agreement wagging his tail furiously in excitement- it's a pretty solid yes so she rifles through the hallway closet in search of the bag of tennis balls, they haven't used them in a long time.

"It's been forever since we've played," Emily whispers fondly to him heading down the stairs and he just pants along as he follows her loyally, his eyes fixated on the bag in her hand. "Remember when you were so little you could barely fit one in your mouth?"

Pepe gives a big doggie grin and Emily tosses a ball to him. He scoops it into his mouth easily. They get out into the sunshine and Emily realizes she's missed this, little moments with Pepe.

The two of them had spent the rest of the afternoon running around the estate's backyard, chasing birds, squirrels, and playing Emily's warped version of fetched. Though the swimmer has a killer throw, she brought out a baseball bat and sent balls going far for Pepe to fetch, usually she'd chase after them too and Pepe was nothing if not a competitive opponent. Eventually, Pepe had run after a ball that landed in the pool and Emily, feeling the heat of the sun, had taken the sheltie's lead and jumped in after him. He'd barked excitedly paddling around his owner as she playfully splashed him and tried to race each other for the floating ball.

"You finally remembered who's dog you are huh?" Emily teases Pepe as she kisses the top of his head as he splashes over to her. She thinks fondly how the dog and Ali have had a close bond ever since the blonde had arrived, and she doesn't blame Pepe really. Who wouldn't be drawn to sweet Alison? Pepe looks up towards the house and Emily follows his gaze. In the distance they see Alison standing at the sink doing dishes. Pepe barks, but the blonde's got her headphones in.