The next day Emily tried her best to get in touch with Alison before Charlotte's hearing, but couldn't. Either Alison was deliberately ignoring her by turning off her cellphone, or something else was up. She needed to let her know Elliot had lied to her, but apparently, Alison was MIA.

It's not like Emily wanted to be the one to deliver the news, but the other girls insisted it would be best that Emily tell her since she was the one to see him. But that conversation had been put on hold.

That was until Monday until Charlotte's hearing.

When Emily parked, she could feel her heart beat against her rib cage. She could only imagine Alison's face when she would get up on the stand.

Emily would tell the truth. Hopefully, all the girls would. And Alison would either be pleased or not so pleased. Emily prepared herself, because Alison may even get upset if anyone testified against Charlotte.

As she walked towards the court house she spotted her friends waiting for her. Alison was nowhere to be seen. Maybe that was for the best.

"Hey," Spencer greeted. "Have you talked to Alison?"

Emily crossed her arms. "No. She wouldn't answer my calls."

"Great," Hanna complained. "Is she bailing on this too?"

"Maybe that's a good thing," Aria suggested. "That way we won't feel pressured to lie for her again."

"Is she here?" Emily asked.

"We don't know. We were waiting for you before going inside," Spencer finished.

Emily took in a deep breath and decided it was time to get this over with.

The four women walked into the court house side by side and spotted Alison waiting on a bench. She looked distraught, but at least she was here.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked Alison.

"Y-Yeah," Alison lied. "It's just... Elliot's not here and he said her would be. And I can't get in touch with him because he isn't answering his cell."

Emily crossed her arms. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

Alison looked up. "What?"

"I've been trying to call you since yesterday," Emily stated.

"I recently got a new phone." She took Emily's cell from her hand. "I'll give you all my new number."

Emily felt bad for assuming Alison had been ignoring her. Although, there was a small sense of relief knowing that wasn't the case.

Emily decided it was now or never. "Ali I have to tell you something-"

"Can this wait until after the hearing?" Alison asked politely. "I just... I want to do this now."

Emily couldn't help but think Alison believed they were all about to speak positively on Charlotte's behalf, and maybe some of them were, but not Emily.

She was anxious. And the last thing she wanted was to hurt Alison, but there was no telling what would come out of her mouth once she was in that chair.

All of them filed into the room, but not before Mona herself joined in behind them.

Mona just gave the girls a forced smile.

Luckily Emily didn't have to go first because Hanna was more than ready to get this over with.

Everyone watched Hanna take her place in front of the judge.

"I was angry for a long time, but now every morning I wake up, drink coffee and I walk outside," Hanna stated. "It's either sunny or it's raining, but there I am. I'm free."

Emily watched Alison smile.

"I don't see why Charlotte shouldn't have the same chance to get caught in the rain as I do," Hanna finished. "I'm not afraid of her."

Then she stood and rejoined Emily's side. Spencer went next.

"I'm sure you've read all the documents of who Charlotte is and what she's done to us," Spencer admitted. "Those are just reports."

The court room was silent.

Spencer continued. "One thing that I've learned from all of this is that people are not always the things they do." She paused. "Charlotte DiLaurentis poses no threat to me."

Emily couldn't help but feel weak in the shadow of Spencer and Hanna.

Then surprisingly, Mona stood to go.

She sat and looked as if she was about to puke. She leaned forward and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear with a shaky hand. Then she started.

"I thought I could do this, but I can't," Mona struggled. "I've been listening to my friends... how Spencer and Hanna have managed to forgive Charlotte..."

Emily prepared herself.

"I wish I could hate her, but I can't," Mona claimed. "I can't because I know what she went through. I was in Radley Sanitarium. I was there for months. Charlotte was there for years and years. Being in that place is what twisted her out of shape."

Mona sighed. "Let her out. Let her go home. That's all any of us want. Is to have a home." She paused and choked back tears. "I'm sorry."

Then Mona got up and left the court room.

Everyone was still. Emily looked at Alison who seemed to feel thankful that Mona, of all people, was on her side. Emily felt her decision wavering.

Aria looked at Emily but Emily couldn't get up from the bench. She was frozen. Aria nodded and went instead.

Aria's shaky hands unfolded a piece of paper and she began to read. None of it made any sense to Emily. Everyone else had spoken from personal experience. Why wasn't Aria doing the same? After what she had told them last night, Emily assumed she would have.

But then she was stopped as the judge held up her hand.

"Miss Montgomery, you're here to tell me if you feel safe," the judge said. "To tell me if Charlotte should leave the hospital."

It was as if Aria was recounting her Dollhouse experience. All the trauma CeCe – Charlotte – had caused them. The torture. How Aria had almost been killed. How all the girls had almost lost their lives at the cost of Charlotte's doing.

Emily knew what utter fear felt like, and that's what Charlotte made her feel. It had nearly paralyzed her.

Then Aria looked up.

"No," Aria mumbled. "No, I would not feel safe."

Emily sighed in relief.

Then Aria continued to recount the story of her experience on a train that had lost power. How she had been taken back to the Dollhouse and how everyone had stared at her while she cried. Charlotte had done that to her.

Emily felt pity for her friend. She had also experienced similar moments when her trauma had resurfaced.

"I don't want Charlotte released," Aria admitted. "Ever."

Aria had been completely honest. Emily could see the defeat in Alison's eyes and she no longer wanted to do this. She was torn between what she wanted and what Alison wanted. It always seemed to be that way with her.

But this time would be different.

Emily stood from her seat and felt her legs shake under her. The world seemed to be falling from beneath her as she tried not to collapse before making it to the seat in the front of the room. She could feel everyone's eyes on her.

Then she sat and forced herself not to look at Alison. At least for now.

"Miss Fields, where do you stand on this matter?" the judge asked.

Emily swallowed and folded her hands on the desk. It was either be honest with herself and make sure Charlotte wasn't released, or give Alison what she wanted.

But she had always given Alison what she wanted. For as long as Emily could remember, she had always allowed Alison to call the shots.

"If Charlotte is released," Emily started and noticed her voice shook. "I would no longer feel safe."

The air around her was still. She could feel Alison's eyes on her but she stared at the judge.

"I still feel all the pain she put us through," Emily confessed. "When my phone rings, sometimes I still jump. When bad things happen, I can't help but wonder if it was coincidental or not. I still scream myself awake because of the things we went through in that place..."

Her voice gave out as her eyes found Alison. Those blue eyes she hated to see upset were locked on her, just like everyone else's. Except Alison wasn't angry. Or maybe she was, but was good at hiding it.

"I can forgive her," Emily admitted to Alison. "But I can't forget. And I can't lie about that, no matter how bad you want me to."

Alison felt defeated at Emily's confession, but her heart was shattered for more than just Charlotte. It was shattered because of the pain that radiated from Emily. After all these years, Emily had never found peace? When had the strong, warm girl Alison knew allow the dark side of the world to break her?

Emily tore her gaze from Alison and focused back on the judge.

"I do not want Charlotte DiLaurentis released," Emily finished.

Then she stood and tried her best not to break down in front of everyone in the court room. Emily knew she had done the right thing, but she couldn't get the image of Alison's face out of her mind.

They were dismissed and everyone made it outside before Ali and decided to wait.

Spencer rubbed Emily's back. "You and Aria did the right thing, Em. You told the truth."

Emily just took a deep breath.

That's when Alison walked out and joined the women.

"Thank you," Ali said to Spencer and Hanna. "I would thank Mona too if she were here."

Emily wanted to shrink and disappear when Ali looked at her.

"I'm sorry Ali," Emily apologized. "I just couldn't."

Alison was sad. Sad that the girl she had once relied on was now a completely different person, or so it seemed. She was lost. Hurt. Cold. And it pained Alison. But the worst part about it was that she couldn't blame Emily for her testimony. She had no idea what they had gone through all those years ago.

She had no idea, and she wished she did. She wished Emily would just talk to her. But Emily had shut Alison out years ago.

"Do you want us to wait with you?" Spencer asked. "For the decision?"

"No, it's fine," Alison denied. "I'll let you all know when I find out."

Spencer, Aria and Hanna turned to walk away but Emily still needed to tell Alison the truth about Elliot. Even if she wanted to get as far away from Ali as possible right now.

Emily lingered and watched Alison sit on the bench outside the courtroom. She couldn't help but feel exposed.

"Ali... how did you and Elliot really meet?"

Alison should've seen this coming. Emily could see through her. She had developed that ability during the years Alison had been on the run. There was no way Ali could keep this from her much longer, or any of the others for that matter.

"He's Charlotte's doctor," Alison answered. "He took over at Welby Institute about three years ago."

Emily shook her head. "Why didn't you tell us the truth in the first place?"

"Because Elliot didn't want me to," Ali confessed. "He just... We needed Charlotte to be released first."

Great. There was more resting on this hearing than Charlotte's freedom. There was Elliot and Alison's relationship as well. Would knowing that prior to the hearing have influenced Emily another way? As much as it pained her, she wanted to see Alison happy, and right now she was not.

"So why isn't he here?" Emily wondered.

"I don't know. The conference was only supposed to last till Sunday," Alison said. "He told me he would be here, but I can't think of a good enough reason to why he's not."

Emily needed to tell Alison what she had seen. She needed to no matter what.

"Ali I saw Elliot Friday night at The Radley," Emily admitted. "He checked into a room."

This was news to Alison, and it wasn't news she wanted to hear.

Alison crossed her arms "And you know this how?"

"I saw him," Emily stated. "I saw him but I was drunk and I wasn't sure, so we broke into the security office and checked the cameras. He lied to you about where he was going."

It was like blow after blow with Emily ever since she had run into Alison at the coffee shop Friday afternoon. Emily had been indifferent around her, she hadn't reacted happily at the engagement announcement, she had protested Charlotte's freedom and now she was telling her that her fiancé was lying to her?

Emily on the other hand was suffocating. She wanted to leave. She needed to.

"I uh, I should go," Emily dismissed. "Just... call me when you get the news about Charlotte."

Alison could do nothing but nod her off.

And Emily left without another word.

She left in pain because if Charlotte was denied freedom, Emily's testimony would have a lot to do with it. Alison would possibly be upset with her for a long time. And now that Elliot's secret was out in the open, Alison would most likely have a hard time trusting him.

Emily had come back to Rosewood with good intentions, but she was leaving a trail of debris in her wake, and it was all for Alison to see.