Her heart stopped when she saw the lights.

The ambulance raced by, people were drawn towards the scene, drawn towards the chaos that was in fact, by Enily's house.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Walking closer when her heart functioned again. Her body was set to faster, faster, because God knows that her mother could have done something stupid. Jogging faster and faster.

A distressed face approached her.

"They found Alison's body."

"Em?"

Her head was buried in her arms, attempting to hold her legs and the remainder of her body together. She was a mess on her own porch. No one was on the street, and she knew Aria attended Spencer's junior field hockey game. Hanna was visiting her grandparents, and Alison, Emily thought Alison was where she usually was. Out and about, with the varsity team, that let her ride in their Jeep and smoke cigarettes and talk about which actors and singers they would fuck into the ground even though damn, Ali was half their age.

Emily didn't lift her head.

Ali ran to the familiar porch, and took Emily into her arms. "Em, hey..."

Her cries didn't stop. Emily thought how it came down.

.:. It's a long way down. .:.

The street was empty, and Alison's eyes softened.

They stayed like that for a little while, until a jet soared above their head. Emily pressed harder into to Alison, gripping onto her back, her waist, and made a series of noises that weren't much but sobbing. Alison looked up at the jet until it was gone, as if she could shoo it away. She believed in herself that much.

.:. It feels like a long way down. .:.

Emily was shaking, and Alison stroked her hair, holding her tighter. "...Em, what's wrong?"

And finally, she spoke. "They got bombed."

"Who got bombed, Em?"

"My dad. Got bombed."

.:. It feels like a long way down. .:.

Alison was in shock. She didn't even know Mr. Fields was deployed, but Emily never really liked to talk about her dad.

"The... The whole place... Bombed..."

"Em... Where's your mom?"

"She... She-locked herself in her room."

Alison's heart flared. "I'm going up there."

"Ali no!" The blonde stopped, from Emily springing up to latch onto her waist.

.:. So honey, don't leave, don't leave... .:.

"You need her right now, and she locked herself into her room? What kind of mom does that?"

"Don't talk about her like that, Ali!" Tears streamed harder down the brunette's face, her short nails were digging into Alison's waist.

Alison sat back down, wedging herself between the wooden posts to take Emily to take her back into her arms. Quiet again, until Emily spoke, again. "I think my dad is dead."

"You don't know that, Em."

A lone car drove past them.

"He won't buy me ice cream anymore."

"Em, you listen to me. You aren't allowed to assume anyone is dead unless you see the body, touch the body and know that there isn't anybody in there anymore."

.:. Please don't leave me now. .:.

Emily thought about seeing her father's dead body, and her throat went hollow. Alison held her friend impossibly closer, and Emily inhaled the scent of that blonde hair. The perfume of it all took her to another world, another world where planes didn't crash and explosives didn't rain from the sky.

The red coat whipped through the bushes, and Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily held up there dresses to run as fast as they could. Following the pigment through the trees. The finally trapped it into a small clearing.

"Who's there! You can't run anymore!"

The gloved hands rose up in slow motion to take down the hood. And that was when Emily broke. Alison turned, slowly, and for a split second everything didn't matter anymore. Everything was complete. They weren't an abandoned fraction, they were a solid shape.

She smiled, or attempted to smile, to make a small joke or something. "...Did you miss me?"

Long way down

Feels like a long way down
Feels like a long way down
Like a long way down
So honey don't leave, don't leave,
Please don't leave me now