Emily regretted a lot of decisions she's made.

She regretted ever coming back to Rosewood and she regretted staying. She regretted dropping out of college and lying to her friends and family. And she regretted agreeing to keep Alison company after they had left the police station Tuesday night after Charlotte went missing.

"Em," Alison said. "I know I asked you to stay but if you don't want to..."

"No," Emily declined. "It's fine. You shouldn't be alone tonight."

It's not that Emily didn't want to be around Alison, because she did. She always did. That never changed. It was the feelings she had when she was around Alison that changed. And ever since she had come back to Rosewood things had been... different.

"Do you have some blankets? I'll just take the couch," Emily suggested. No way was she staying in any of the bedrooms tonight.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch," Alison said. "The master bed is big enough for four people."

Brown eyes met blue as Emily tried to decide if that was a good idea. The last time her and Ali had shared a bed, they hadn't slept much.

"N-No," Emily declined. "I don't mind the couch."

Alison turned down the comforter of her bed and watched Emily stand uncomfortably at the door. She wouldn't even come into the room. Her strange behavior told Ali more than she wanted to know.

"Alright," Alison obliged. "I'll grab you some blankets."

She tossed Emily a pillow from her bed and followed her friend downstairs. Ali didn't want to admit she didn't want to sleep alone, because she knew it would guilt Emily into sleeping next to her, and Alison couldn't do that to her. She had done enough.

"So you were with the girls tonight?" Alison asked.

Emily fluffed her pillow. "Uh yeah, we were together at The Radley. Hanna's staying there and she didn't want to be alone."

Emily knew Alison felt left out. After all, they hadn't immediately notified Ali of their arrival when they made it back to Rosewood. Then they had made plans to go out without her. But she was engaged, and Emily was sure Ali wouldn't have come anyway. Plus, they had been together last night to talk about Charlotte, and Alison wouldn't have liked what they had to say.

Emily sat on the couch and Alison joined her.

"God, how am I supposed to sleep tonight?" Alison wondered.

"I don't know," Emily responded. "It just doesn't make any sense why Elliot would kidnap Charlotte."

Emily watched Alison play with her fingers. That is what Alison believed, right?

"I don't know if that's what actually happened," Alison said.

Emily tensed. "What do you mean? You said your money was transferred to Elliot's account-"

"I think Charlotte drugged me," Alison blurted. The words made her mouth taste bad. "I found one of her anti-anxiety pills missing... and I had been so tired..."

Emily couldn't make sense of what Alison was saying.

"Why would she do that?" Emily questioned.

Alison looked down. "I really don't know."

Emily swallowed and tried not to worry so much. Alison was strong. She could handle something like this. But if Charlotte hadn't been kidnapped... then what really happened?

"Do you think Charlotte and Elliot would run away together?" Emily asked.

The more Alison talked about this the more upset she became. If that were the case, then this had taken a lot of planning. And if Elliot and Charlotte had planned this all along, that meant everything she had told Elliot was for nothing. That meant their whole relationship was a complete lie.

Alison felt a tear roll down her cheek.

Emily felt her heart pull at the sight. She hadn't meant to upset Ali, but she knew Alison loved Elliot. Emily had seen it in her eyes when Ali talked about him.

Emily reached out and wiped the tear from Alison's cheek. She knew there was nothing she could say to make this better, so she didn't try.

Alison sobbed. "I really believed he loved me..."

"Hey," Emily comforted. "We don't know anything yet, okay?"

Emily couldn't help her nurturing instincts as she pulled Alison into her. She felt tears dampen her t-shirt as Ali held onto Emily like she would fall away if she let go. It wasn't often that Alison cried, but Emily knew when she did, it would be like a broken dam. She and Alison were similar in that way.

And as much as Emily wanted to believe she had changed, she found her old habits resurfacing while she comforted Alison on her family couch.

* * *

Three knocks on the front door startled Alison awake. She found herself wedged between Emily's chest and right arm before she gently pulled herself out of the position without waking her friend. Had she fallen asleep like that last night? She had been exhausted from crying...

Alison peeked through the curtains and spotted Toby in his police uniform outside her door waiting patiently. He had to be here regarding Elliot and Charlotte's disappearance.

When she opened the front door, Toby smiled, but she knew he didn't have good news.

"Toby," Alison greeted. "What's this about?"

"We need you to come down to the precinct," he said. "We have news on Elliot and Charlotte."

Alison crossed her arms. "And it's probably not good considering you can't tell me here."

The look in Toby's eyes allowed Alison to confirm her suspicion. Something bad had happened last night and she wasn't ready to hear what it was.

"I-I uh..." she stammered. "I'll be there as soon as possible."

Toby gave her a sad smile. "Alright." Then he turned and disappeared into his patrol car.

Alison shut the door and turned to see Emily staring up at her from the couch. Her brown waves sat tousled upon her shoulders as the worry in her eyes became noticeable.

"Was that Toby?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Alison answered. "They want me to go down to the precinct again." She looked down at her hands. "I... I think it's bad news."

Emily stood from the couch and offered to embrace Alison, but Ali couldn't bring herself to her. After the way she had woken up... it was probably best to keep some distance.

"I'm gonna go get dressed," Alison said.

Emily stepped forward. "Do you want me to come with you? To the police station?"

Alison shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'll be fine."

There was a look in Alison's eyes that told Emily something was off, but what? Why wouldn't Alison want her support after she had asked Emily to stay the night?

"Okay, well, let me know what they say?" Emily asked.

"I will," Alison responded before she headed up to her washroom.

Emily watched her disappear upstairs and decided Alison probably didn't want her to stick around. She gathered her things and left the house, hoping that the news about Elliot and Charlotte wasn't as bad as she was expecting it to be.

But this was Rosewood, and everyone knew this town had a tendency to attract more trouble than it was ready to face.

* * *

Alison paced up the steps to the Rosewood Police Department and let herself inside. Although she had been here about ten hours ago, this time felt much different.

The office resembled the scene of a circus, or a nature of urgency, and she already knew it was a bad sign. She walked in further and was spotted by Toby who was at his desk.

"Alison," he said. "You're here. Tanner's waiting for you."

He led her down a hallway and opened a door that led to a conference room. Alison heard him call for Tanner, who emerged from the room immediately.

"Miss DiLaurentis," she greeted. "Come."

They disappeared into Tanner's office and Alison refused to sit. She needed to know what was going on.

"Why don't you have a seat," Tanner suggested.

Alison crossed her arms. "I'm good. What's going on?"

Tanner seemed to hesitate as she folded her hands.

This wasn't good, Alison thought.

"Last night, when you called and reported your sister was missing, I sent officers in every direction out of Rosewood," she informed. "There was a car that was run off the bridge on Thomas Mill Road."

Alison let the information sink in.

"The car must've caught fire after it crashed, but there were two bodies found inside," Tanner stated. "We have reason to believe it's Charlotte and Elliot."

A heavy breath Alison had been holding released itself from her lungs. Her heart felt as if it had been shattered into a million pieces.

"A-Are you sure?" Ali asked.

Tanner tilted her head. "We're not one-hundred percent but we're waiting on the forensics report... Would you be able to identify something for me?"

At this Alison allowed herself to sit. She was sure she was about to pass out from shock.

"Y-Yes."

Tanner put on a latex glove and reached behind her to reveal a clear plastic bag. Alison recognized this as evidence. Tanner grabbed what was inside the bag and held it up.

It was Charlotte's necklace. The one Alison had given her years ago for her birthday.

"Do you recognize this?" Tanner asked.

Ali's hands balled into fists as she tried to retain her composure.

She forced a nod. "I-It's Charlotte's. I bought her that for her birthday years ago."

Tanner returned the necklace to the bag and set it back down onto her desk. Alison couldn't believe this was happening.

"We also found this..."

Tanner reached for another bag but Alison was just trying not to throw up. Charlotte and Elliot had run off a bridge and burned to death?

Alison looked up to see another bag, this one holding a diamond ring. She immediately recognized it as the ring Elliot had proposed to her with. Her fingers automatically checked her left hand but she knew she had taken it off before Charlotte had come home. Her sister must've found it when Alison had fallen asleep.

Alison felt her world crumbling. "That's mine."

Tanner's eyes found Ali's but all Alison could look at was the ring. The ring that was nothing but a sham. A lie. The ring that Charlotte had apparently believed belonged to her. Not Alison.

"Miss DiLaurentis," Tanner said.

Suddenly, Ali felt as if she was suffocating. She needed to leave. She needed to get out of here. Now.

She stood. "Is that all?"

Tanner moved as well. "Yes, but before you go, can I ask you one more thing?"

Alison forced herself to stay put.

Tanner moved closer. "Do you know where your friends were last night before you called them?"

Alison almost didn't believe what Tanner was hinting at. She looked at the lieutenant in confusion.

"They were at The Radley," Alison informed. "Why?"

Tanner sighed. "Well we're treating this as a homicide, so we are just taking everyone involved into consideration."

"My friends didn't do this," Alison defended.

"I'm not accusing them," Tanner stated. "Like I said, I'm just taking everyone into account."

Alison couldn't take anymore.

"Is that all?" Alison asked.

"For now," Tanner responded. "Thank you for your help, Alison."

After being dismissed Ali headed for the exit. The knot in her stomach was the size of a softball and she was having a hard time breathing.

Her sister and her fiancé had been murdered. In the end, the effort had been for nothing, and Alison was beginning to believe she would spend the rest of her life alone.

And maybe that's what she deserved.