The Difference Between Us // Emison AU

Chp. 18

As she impatiently stood at her window and stared out across the city, Alison's face remained stoic and hard.

It had seemed to be like that every day. She sat, she worked, and she worked some more. However, since the loss of Emily, her art asset had begun to plummet drastically.

Trying as hard as she could to find another artist off of the street, she found those who were more so in it for the money than the art.

And every single one of them either created crappy work that wasn't desirable or took the money they were offered and didn't produce the work Alison needed.

As she looked through applications, she had hoped to see Emily's name pop up through the list, but to no avail.

And with every day, it only seemed to get worse.

As she threw down the phone for the fourth time that morning in absolute frustration, a knock resonated through the room in her office.

"Come in," she snapped.

Frank the doorman walked through carrying a large suitcase that Alison recognized immediately. "You have a visitor Ms. Dilaurentis."

Alison, who's eyes had grown wide in excitement, stood up and straightened out her hair and her dress. Emily was back. She's here!

However, the woman who walked in was not the tan skinned brunette she had expected to see.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Hanna?"

"Hello Alison," Hanna said coldly.

Alison regained her composure and held her head high. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm here to give you your stupid suitcase back. You know... the one that's tormented Emily for four months," Hanna sneered.

"Excuse me?" Alison threatened.

But Hanna was not threatened by anything Alison had to say, and for that reason, Alison began to cower like a dog with her tail between her legs.

"Emily never wants to see you again. And if you thought that leaving that bag in Emily's room was some method to get her to come back here, you are so wrong sister," Hanna said.

"And who are you to be telling me that Emily is done with me? Shouldn't she be telling me this herself?" Alison asked as though she were winning some kind of war.

Hanna crossed her arms and smirked. "Emily doesn't need to. Her girlfriend is here to do it for her."

Girlfriend.

Alison's mind went blank immediately. She didn't know what else to say. She didn't even know how else to proceed with the conversation at hand.

Emily was dating Hanna?

But how? And why?

"I wasn't aware you two were a thing," Alison said quietly.

Hanna, noticing the change in Alison's demeanor, stood up even straighter. "Emily needs to move on from you."

"Move on from me?" Alison asked quizzically.

"Yes. Duh. Didn't I just say that? Am I deaf?" Hanna asked Frank the doorman who simply sat there and shrugged.

Even he didn't know what to say or how to process the conversation at hand.

"Look, I wasn't some breakup. I was her boss. And she quit. Not the other way around. If she wants to get over me, she can. But to come here and blame Emily's insecurities on me when I haven't spoken to Emily in almost five months is completely inappropriate," Alison said.

Hanna shrugged. "And you may be right. It is. But you can never come back into Emily's life. This is your final warning."

Alison sat back down in her desk chair and began to tap her fingers impatiently. "May I remind you that you came into my home and now you are threatening me. Not to mention, Jason is my brother. If Emily happens to be there when I visit him, that can't be helped."

"Jason doesn't want anything to do with you either. I've spoken to him about it. He lived for years on the streets without you or your mom to help him. He's more than capable of doing it again," Hanna snapped.

Alison was beginning to develop a bad taste in her mouth. It was the taste of anger, bitterness, revenge.

"They work for me now. They design my newest fashion trends and are paid quite well," Hanna said.

And that was when Alison felt it crack. Her heart had begun to snap since losing Emily, but upon hearing those words, she totally lost every semblance of control she had over it.

"Emily is not a toy, Hanna. She is a wonderful woman who deserves the best. She's not a consolation prize," Alison said.

"What would you care? You never really cared about her," Hanna dismissed.

Alison's blood began to boil. She tried her hardest to hold it in, but began to feel her mind slipping. Everything that had made sense before no longer made sense now.

"You're wrong. I love her," Alison spat.

And that's when the room grew silent. Alison knew she had uttered the words she had never been able to utter before, and for some strange reason, everything felt okay.

"Emily," Alison painted as she quickly stood up from her desk.

Hanna sat shocked, unable to move or say anything.

Alison grabbed her purse which was sitting underneath her desk and began to run past Hanna who grabbed her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hanna asked, completely confused.

Alison tugged her arm away. "I'm going to do what's right. I'm going to tell Emily I love her."

(A/N - So many updates in a couple of days, oh my god! School starts in like four days for me. I'm super angry but oh well. You guys!! The story is developing! Emison is being prepped!

I hope you are all enjoying this story, even if it is only a little bit. I can't wait to see what some of you have to say about this chapter. I know so many of you have been anticipating it for the four months that I've been writing.

However, don't get TOO comfortable. Alison may [or may not] tell Emily she loves her.

And will Emily say it back if she does?

Will Emily even give Alison another chance? Or will Alison have to do more to make it up to her Mermaid?

So many questions and so little time to find out! Hope you guys have enjoyed!)