A/N: Hello! This is my first Emison fanfic, I don't know if it will be any good and I don't expect much of a response. If anyone at all is interested in it, review and I will continue it. I was born in Britain, so the spelling and grammar is that of British English.

Premise: Two years after Charlotte was revealed as 'A', the girls all went their separate ways and Ali stayed behind in Rosewood. It is canon up until just before Archer Dunhill came to work at Welby as Elliott Rollins (I will definitely not involve him in the story AT ALL), Doctor Sullivan is Charlotte's doctor and Alison has been in love with Emily for as long as she can remember; she didn't act on her feelings after the events of 6x10 because she thought Emily deserved better and needed to move on from Rosewood.

If anyone is interested (I doubt it), my Twitter username is Wheatley WheatyNewToTwit

P.S. Thank you 'bgum733' and 'Leapyearbaby29' for letting me know about the publishing error. Leapyearbaby, I have seen your comments on most of the fanfics I have read on Wattpad and I love how interactive you try to be with others' stories. I have noticed your story 'MIA' before and promise to check it out soon; I am sure I will love it! 3

Prologue

Welby State Psychiatric Facility. Saturday morning. Autumn's harsh breeze is beginning to sweep through; being Rosewood, however, the sun maintains its exasperatingly consistent fairytale-esque light which neglects to dim, in spite of the time of year.

For Alison Lauren DiLaurentis, it is a reminder that she never has been – and never will be – able to leave this Godforsaken town for good. Not because of any particularly challenging obstacles; If she wanted, she could have her sister transferred to another facility and could continue the work for her teaching degree elsewhere. But no, that would be too easy. Alison DiLaurentis doesn't do easy. The problem is her mindset. As much as she despises Rosewood, it is the only home she knows. And if there's one thing she has learnt, it is that there is nothing more precious and worth holding on to than home ... and family.

Besides, that is why she comes here almost every day (even when she knows she should be studying to get her teaching degree), to try and regain a piece of the family that she so desperately craves. Her brother, Jason, is almost always overseas participating in charity work for the Carissimi Group: the non-profit organisation that Jason practically inherited from Charlotte when she was admitted to Welby (although Alison does have quite a sizable abundance of shares herself). Her father, Kenneth, effectively disowned both her and Jason once they began investing their time in helping Charlotte; the fact that his children were going against his wishes and trying to help the 'abberation' (as he once referred to her as) that he repudiated twenty years prior. Worst of all, however, is the heart-wrenching ache that she must endure when she wakes every morning in a cold sweat. Because of the years of abrasive torment by 'A'? No. The revelation that her sister was the one responsible for those years of manipulation and unfettered abuse? No. The regret, guilt and self-loathing for her adolescent years of controlling, blackmailing and bullying the people she cared for most? Shamefully, no.

For Alison, there is no pain comparable to watching the love of her life drive away without hesitation, to leave Rosewood and everything else behind, including her. It is the kind of pain that leaves you feeling empty. As if your heart, mind and soul belonged to someone else, and once that person was gone, everything that made you whole, that made you value life, goes too.

In a way, Charlotte is a coping mechanism for Alison. Of course, she desperately wants to help Charlotte get better and get her released, but it is so easy to lose herself and become distracted by someone as challenging as Charlotte. At the very least, it was a nice substitute for the pain that would inevitably consume her if she was left in her own company for too long. Charlotte so seldom mentions her antics as 'A' and even more seldom brings her victims up in conversation, including Emily. Though, the blonde often wonders if Charlotte knew about her feelings for Emily. She is positive that Charlotte is aware of a lot of their history but thinks that given her intellect, she could probably figure out what she felt for the brunette and how much she loves her.

She has been coming here for almost two years now, yet each time she's here, she gets an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She's never liked these places. Subconsciously, she wonders if her anxiety in relation to Welby and places like it is because of an inner fear of ending up there herself, as a result of her sister's mental illness and her mother's subtle psychological and behavioural conditioning. Frantically dismissing her distracted thoughts, she enters the facility and makes her way through to find Doctor Sullivan.

Doctor Sullivan has been Charlotte's doctor since her admittance and has been nothing but reliable and understanding ever since. Spencer recommended her during the few weeks that Charlotte was in the County Jail and it was, in fact, Sullivan who properly diagnosed Charlotte and pushed her transfer to Welby.

Just as Alison is getting her pass and entering Patient Wing Two, she is greeted with the doctor herself, looking somewhat disconcerted.

"Alison," she deadpans.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Alison asks as we make our way through the hallways of Welby.

"Hello. Yes, I just wanted to ask you a favour."

"Anything," she reply humbly.

"I wanted to ask if you and Emily are still close." Alison was completely taken aback. Aside from in her thoughts and dreams, she had not heard that name in such a long time; it sounded almost foreign to her.

It is almost a stab in the chest. Are Emily and I still close? It pains Alison that in the past two years, the amount of times she had spoken to Emily could be counted on her fingers. She truly doesn't know what happened; It was immensely difficult for her to let Emily go, but she had to, she knew that Emily had to move on with her life, but that doesn't explain why they maintained almost no contact. It would have been hard for Alison to speak to Emily on a regular basis as just friends, but it would have been highly preferable to the alternative: communicating only via text and brief phone calls on holidays and birthdays.

She began to stammer nervously through her response: "W-w-why do you a-ask?" Fuck! Emily is over two-thousand miles away and she still has this effect on me?

"Well, her mother called me and asked If I would see her and try to help her cope with the trauma." Alison was beyond confused. Wait, does that mean Emily is coming to Rosewood? What for? What trauma? All of the girls, including me, had multiple sessions with Doctor Sullivan after Charlotte was arrested. Surely that can't be the trauma that she is referring to.

"T-trauma?" Alison asks, beginning to get worried.

"From the loss," Doctor Sullivan states, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Alison merely stares at her, her mouth slightly ajar. "She's coming home for the funeral and I figured she may not be so eager to schedule an appointment with me, which is why I was going to ask if you could try to convince her; it would really be good for her to open up and-"

"What funeral?" Alison interrupts suddenly, becoming agitated.

"Did you not know?" Doctor Sullivan question, feeling guilty that she is the one to have to tell the blonde. When Alison simply shakes her head in response, the older woman continues, trying to be as concise as possible. "Emily's father died from a heart attack during a training exercise in Texas. Emily is coming home for the funeral." Alison's heart sank incredulously. There was a time when she would have given anything to have Emily come back to Rosewood, back to her. But this is too great a price to pay.

As Doctor Sullivan continued to talk, Alison's mind had begun to wander to thoughts of the perfect brunette who never deserved any of the pain and torment in her life, who deserved o much better than what life gave her.

Throughout the entire visit, Alison put on her classic façade: the mask she donned whenever she needed to hide how she was feeling or seem strong. All she could think of was how much she wished she could see the brunette this second. She just wanted to show her that she is there, to comfort her and be what she needs, when she needs.

The second that I exited the building, I retrieved my phone from my jeans' back pocket and dialed Emily's number. After seven frustratingly, seemingly endless rings, she picks up ….