Home For Fall // Emison and PLL

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Elliot looked up towards the sky which was brimming with dark black clouds. He nodded. "I see. You're probably more right than I would've been. At least, you know Alison better than I do."

Emily could feel a sneer beginning to form on her lips. She looked towards the ground to keep it from making itself known.

She caught herself staring towards the ice cream parlor, secretly wishing Hanna and Spencer would hurry up so they could leave.

Any more time with Elliot and Emily would beat him into the pavement.

When she noticed her friends weren't speeding up their process, she turned back to the tall raven haired man.

"So... I didn't expect you to be here either. Any particular reason?" Emily asked.

Elliot shrugged and tried his best to stay distanced from the tattooed veteran in front of him. "I'm just meeting somebody."

"That's cool," Emily muttered.

No it wasn't. She didn't really give a damn.

"I know I'm not your doctor right now, or ever, but I wanted to ask how you were feeling?" Elliot said in his most sincere tone.

Emily narrowed her eyes. "And why would you ask that?"

Elliot's expression didn't seem to shift. "Just mere curiosity. I mean, after the hospital and your psychotic break, I assumed you would be a little more-,"

"Crazy?" Emily scoffed.

Elliot raised his eyebrows. "No. Not crazy. Sensitive. Vulnerable."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's me alright. Miss Vulnerable."

Elliot chuckled. "You seem to be doing well."

Emily bit on her tongue. "I guess I'm doing as well as I could."

Elliot seemed to want to say more, but as he opened his mouth, his phone went off.

He pulled it out of his pocket and read what was on the screen before stuffing it away and clearing his throat.

"Excuse me. That was the person I am meeting. But, it was nice talking to you. I'm glad to see you're feeling better," Elliot said kindly.

Emily felt her heartbeat slow. She had been quite unfair with him in the past. She sighed.

"Thank you. But hey... Elliot? Could I ask a question? It's kind of personal," Emily said.

He squinted and turned back around to face her but didn't say anything which directed her to proceed with her question. He seemed uneasy.

He most certainly wasn't used to patients asking personal requests of their doctors.

"Did you know Charlotte well?" Emily asked.

Elliot sucked in a breath and sighed deeply. "I knew her well enough as my patient. I can't imagine anybody who would actually want to hurt her."

Emily was confused. "Why do you say that?"

Elliot looked both ways before lowering his voice and staring Emily straight in the eyes. "Because Charlotte was different. She became loving and caring. She only ever wanted what was best for Alison. She loved her sister."

"And if Ali was threatened?" Emily asked wearily.

Elliot squeezed his eyes shut. "Charlotte and I were working extensively on her... Issues. Her anger issues to be precise. She never wanted anybody to hurt Alison. Ever. But..."

"If somebody did?" Emily pressed.

Elliot sighed. "Charlotte used to threaten that she'd kill anybody who tried to hurt Alison. Or steal her away from her. Towards the end of Charlotte's life, Alison wasn't visiting much. She skipped a lot of days. It was really bothering Charlotte."

"Was there a reason why?" Emily asked.

Rollins shrugged, his face contorted with confusion and discomfort. "In my professional opinion, I think Alison was finally realizing how left behind she really was. How alone she really was. After all of you moved away, she spent five years alone taking care of Charlotte. It probably began to weigh on her. That's when she started talking about you. Eddie Lamb, one of the nurses at the sanitarium told me about Alison not having the best contact with you guys. And knowing Charlotte, she could read Alison pretty well. I tried to go back through my notes. But now they just collect dust in my desk. Charlotte is dead now. There's really no reason to continue to ponder."

Emily could see in his eyes that he didn't wish to speak of it any longer. In fact, the subject seemed to tire him out.

Emily stepped back and smiled slightly. "Thank you. For telling me that."

"Anytime," Elliot said.

Inside, Hanna and Spencer had grabbed the tray and were beginning to make their way outside with an assortment of dairy treats.

Rollins looked around and nodded towards the bar next to the ice cream parlor. "I better get going. It was nice seeing you, Emily."

Emily nodded as he walked away, her jaw clenched tight.

Hanna walked up behind her with her spoon in her mouth. "We got you vanilla with rainbow sprinkles because we know how much you like them vanilla girls," she joked with the plastic in between her teeth.

Emily rolled her eyes and took her ice cream cup from the large cardboard tray.

She watched Elliot enter the busy bar, her eyes never leaving his dark hair.

Emily looked towards Spencer who was beginning to eat her raspberry sorbet. "Hey, Spence. You've still got that master lock picking kit, yeah?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Emily smiled and took a bite of her ice cream.

"Good. Because we have a doctor's office to break into."