No Escape

Trying to Heal

A week after Emily's cast had been removed, things were almost back to normal. They were all a little anxious about -A's silence, but after weeks of nothing happening, the girls were all able to breathe a little lighter. Alison had already started to tell the police about -A and the rest of them had also done the same. They were all still a little cautious about what to tell the police, because there were secrets that were still too risky to divulge.

Everything had been going so well, that when the text arrived one Wednesday morning, they had been just a little to lenient with themselves. They were all in different places, finally starting to live their lives free from the constraints of the constant fear of being attacked. They had finally started not to cling to each other too much, restricting their interaction with other people. They were finally able to maximize the last few weeks of high school.

Or so they all thought.

Alison was the one having the hardest time trying to cope. She looked up at the person she'd been seeing for the past week and a half, her expression flat and unyielding. When she received the text message, she made it a point to take her time, not even making it look like she wanted to get back to the conversation they had been having. If one could call it that. They had simply been staring at each other, and Alison was getting tired of the other person.

"I'm sorry, it's an emergency."

"What sort of emergency? Alison, I don't think you understand-"

"You never did. You never will."

With those words, Alison was already standing up, and then she walked out of the coffeeshop outside of Rosewood that she had been frequenting to keep the meetings casual. She didn't want anyone recognizing her, and she didn't want anyone knowing about the meetings. Everything was easier because Emily had had to start therapy sessions already, and Alison didn't even need to make as much excuses, when her own gilrfriend was busy with things herself. All she had to do was keep to the same schedule Emily did, cancel meetings when Emily did, and there was no finding out about where she had been visiting for the past week and a half.

She stood for a moment by the bus stop, staring down at the message she had just received. Her face didn't betray anything she might have felt at what she saw on her phone, but inside she was clearly rattled. Enough that when she looked up and she saw a bus stop in front of her that was bound somewhere past Rosewood, she felt the urge to leave again. It was so sudden, and it was a feeling she hadn't even dwelled upon ever since Emily had vehemently told her that she loved Alison, that when it came, Alison almost didn't realize it until she had taken a few steps towards the bus.

So, she still wanted to leave, she thought to herself, even as she shook her head at the driver of the bus, who only rolled his eyes at her in annoyance for making him think she was getting in. There was no one else at the bus stop at the moment.

She held herself as she watched the bus move away, accelerating slowly, and she suddenly let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. It felt wrong, Alison thought to herself. Wanting to leave felt wrong now, when years ago, it had seemed like the best option for her. She wrapped herself in her own arms, a mannerism she'd picked up along the years of self-inflicted pseudo-solitary confinement. She hadn't felt the need to do that in months, because Emily had always been there to do so, even during the weeks she only had an arm to squeeze Alison with. It was still infinitely better when Emily did it.

She sighed and looked down at her phone again, at the face of a very happy Emily on one of her past dates with Paige. At that moment, Alison thought Emily seemed happier, then, and in the darkness of her thoughts she almost believed it.

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"-A's running out of cards." They all looked at Aria as she spoke, but she didn't seem convinced by them. None of them were.