Matters of the Heart

Chapter 36: Forever (Part I)

A/N: Previously on "Pretty Little Liars: Matters of the Heart": A bunch of traumatic shit happened to everyone. That's it. That's the story.

Initially this chapter was 20k+ words, but it's a lot to digest in one sitting, plus formatting something that long can take FOREVER (heh...get it?). The final chapter will be up as quickly as I can get through it. Then we've got an Epilogue and an Alternate Ending I'll be posting. 

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Chapter 36:

Forever (Part I)

The ticking of the clock was slowly driving Ali insane. If it was up to her, she would have ripped it off of the wall months ago. All her kids seemed to do was stare at it, and all the clock did for her was annoy her...and remind her of the control that time would always have over her. She hated feeling like she wasn't in control.

She could feel her eyes twitch every time the clock clicked, every second that ticked by felt like a drill-bit digging into her gums. It was annoying her to no end. Then again, she also knew her emotions were heightened.

Today marked the three month anniversary of one of the worst days of her life. Twelve long weeks had gone by since Elliott and Sara had lured her out to the middle of nowhere by kidnapping the love of her life.

Both Ali and Emily had fought for their lives that day, or rather, for each other's lives. It had been messy and brutal. Ali had been through a lot in her life, but that day stood out as the most painful and terrifying thing that had ever happened to her. She still had bad dreams about it.

Sometimes she had phantom pains. Her side still ached where her ribs had been bruised after Elliott kicked her. Occasionally, she could still feel his fingers wrapped around her neck. And she had emotional scars that were just as deep.

She'd never forget the look in Emily's eyes. That look that expressed she knew she was dying. It had been unbearable to see. Through it all Emily had tried not to let Ali see how terrified she was. She had tried to bury her fear for Ali's sake.

Ali had been able to feel her slipping away. She'd never forget that sensation, watching Emily dying in her arms. She shuddered. Those scars were going to take much longer to heal. Much longer.

One of her kids made a coughing noise and then meekly called out her name. She snapped out of her daze and quickly realized that, oh yeah, she was supposed to be teaching. She looked at the eyes of her students peering back at her.

How long had she zoned out for this time? She cleared her throat and looked at the book in her hand, Aria and Ezra's book that had come out a month ago. The instant she heard it had been published she bought a bunch of copies for her class.

Ali looked at the novel in her hand. She'd read it hundreds of times. It had Ezra's ideas, but Aria's narrative. It was a perfect blend of the two of them. And even more, it had a beautiful end. Not happy. Not sad. Just beautiful.

She looked at Emily's name on the dedication page and ran her fingers over the font. She closed the book and stared at the cover, which had been designed by Aria. It was composed of several of her photographs all blended together to create the title of the book. After taking in all of the familiar images for what felt like the thousandth time she looked at her class.

"If you want a happy ending that depends, of course, on where you stop your story. So, how does that theme relate to Then and Now?"

She saw several students avert her gaze, trying to avoid being called on. Several more looked bored and uninterested. She caught a few kids glancing at their phones, trying to be covert about it. Her resident bad seed, Addison Derringer, was boldly typing on her phone, not even trying to hide it.