Work Text:
Kieran’s in jail, the calls have stopped, and the Lakewood Five remain.
The aftermath isn’t anything new. Audrey’s been here before. They all have. Except that last time, there was a nagging feeling that it wasn’t over. Maybe it was because of the secrets Audrey was still keeping. Maybe it was the inconsistencies in the case that no one wanted to think about. Either way, it felt like something was still coming.
This time, it's not like that. Nothing lingers. It’s kind of sad, because Audrey doesn’t know which feeling is scarier anymore.
The one positive to come from all of the trauma is that things with Emma have been really good. Somehow, they have found a way to be as close as they were when they were kids. Maybe even closer.
In the weeks after the final showdown, they spend countless hours at the theater, watching old movies and sharing popcorn. Sleepovers become so frequent that Maggie always has Audrey’s favorite snacks on hand and Emma gives her the bottom drawer of her dresser to keep clothes in.
Audrey doesn’t think that anyone will ever be as important to her as Emma is.
It’s great. Until it isn’t.
Turns out, for Audrey, there is actually a downside to not being tormented by a deranged killer anymore. It means that she has more time to sit with her own feelings.
How Audrey has always felt about Emma was her deepest, darkest secret. Even more so than the Piper stuff. Saying it out loud, to Emma herself, should have brought her closure. She had imagined the exact scenario so many times, minus the creepy barn, to know that Emma would say “I love you Audrey, just not like that.” Exactly how Audrey had once said it to Noah.
But instead, Emma didn’t say anything. Not a single word.
Audrey knows it’s selfish, if not flat out ridiculous, to have expected them to talk about it with everything else that was going on. By the time that Kieran was in handcuffs and the dust had settled, her confession seemed like a distant memory anyways.
Except now, it feels like she cut open an old wound and can’t stop the bleeding no matter how hard she tries.
As the school year starts to wind down, things like graduation seem so trivial for the group. After everything they've endured, cherishing the last few moments before true adulthood seems useless. They’ve already had to grow up.
Of course, that doesn’t stop Brooke and Stavo from dragging everyone to Prom. The dance is held at the school and while it’s supposed to have a theme, no one can really figure out what it actually is.
Noah wears the same bowtie he wore to escort Zoe at the Lady of the Lakes pageant, as kind of a tribute, so it makes sense that he goes without a date.
No one has to ask when Emma shows up without one as well. When someone’s best case scenario with a boyfriend involved a sex tape and the worst case involved a serial killer, it’s obvious why putting even the smallest amount of trust in a date seems out of the question.
As for Audrey, she tells herself she doesn’t need a date because there aren’t any good options for her at George Washington High anyways. She tells herself that over and over, despite the feeling she gets every time she looks over at Emma.
After about an hour or so, Brooke decides to get the party started by passing her flask around the table. She eventually stands up and tries to drag Emma onto the dance floor, yet again, but this time Emma pauses before disappearing into the crowd. She stops in front of Audrey’s chair.
“Come on,” Emma says, holding her hand out.
Audrey honestly would probably feel more comfortable running from a psycho with a knife again than she ever would on a dance floor. But. It’s Emma.
All she has to do is ask, and Audrey will do it.
It’s pathetic, really. But before Audrey can even process the thought, she’s laughing, sandwiched between the other two girls while some horrible Top 40 song plays entirely too loud. She forgets why she was even annoyed in the first place.
This is what high school is supposed to be like.
At some point, the DJ transitions to a slow song, causing students to frantically pair up with their dates, or flee to the bathroom for a break. Emma shoots Audrey a look, rolling her eyes playfully, as Brooke immediately clings to Stavo. Audrey makes the same face back, laughing quietly.
“Wanna get out of here?” Emma whispers into Audrey’s ear, sending a shiver right down the shorter girl’s spine.
Audrey knows that Emma means it in the lets-go-get-real-food-and-watch-reality-tv kind of way, but it still makes her cheeks flush a bit. She’s glad the lights are dim as she nods in reply.
Walking home seems to be a good choice, given the strength of the liquor that had been in Brooke’s flask. They aren’t wasted by any means, but Audrey knows that neither of them should attempt to drive, just to be safe.
“So, was that the senior prom you always wanted?” Audrey asks, smirking, as they walk.
Emma laughs, “I’m sure my ten year old self would be horrified to know that not only did I not go with the cutest guy in school, but I also left early.”
Audrey looks down at the sidewalk, “We could have easily found you a date. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, god, don’t be. I had fun,” Emma looks over at Audrey, “It’s just crazy how things can turn out. I don’t know. Like, if this year has taught me anything, it’s that it’s okay to not want the same things that you thought you were supposed to want as a kid.”
Audrey stays silent because while she totally gets it, she can’t really relate. She’s wanted the same thing since she was probably twelve years old. But it’s an interesting comment, regardless.
“Does that even make sense?” Emma asks, filling the silence.
“Yeah,” the shorter girl nods, “Yeah, it does. You deserve to be happy, Emma. Doesn’t matter who or what makes that happen.”
“You deserve that too, you know.”
“Maybe,” Audrey shrugs, guilt still lingering in the back of her mind.
“You do,” Emma says, looking her dead in the eye, “It’s okay to forgive yourself.”
That’s the hard part though. Maybe Emma has forgiven her. But If Audrey forgives herself, she’ll be left wondering what she ever did to deserve the constant heartbreak that comes with being in love with your best friend.
They end up at Emma’s place. Maggie was called into work last minute, so they check every room of the empty house for good measure. It’s just habit at this point. They don’t find anything unusual; no weird clues, no masked men.
The search ends when they reach Emma’s room, closing the door behind them.
“Can you help me with this?”, Emma asks. She turns around, pulling her hair over her shoulder to reveal the zipper of her dress.
“Uh, sure,” Audrey mutters. She only unzips the dress about halfway before backing away as quickly as possible.
“Thanks,” Emma says quietly, looking back at the other girl over her shoulder.
Suddenly, it feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room and Audrey hates herself for making this weird. Moments like this, filled with an undefined tension, happen more frequently between the two than she would like to admit. She just hopes she isn’t making Emma uncomfortable.
She must not be, because seconds later Emma is wearing clothes to sleep in and asking Audrey what she wants to watch. Everything feels normal again in an instant.
It makes Audrey feel like she’s crazy.
Graduation is interesting. Understandably, there’s a moment of silence for the students lost over the past year, but it makes it difficult for Audrey to focus on the good. After all, this is supposed to be a moment of celebration and excitement. Instead, she feels sorrow mixed with relief. It’s not like she liked high school very much, and that was before people started winding up dead.
The speeches are boring, honestly, but at least they aren’t very long.
The Lakewood Five find each other after the ceremony, posing for several photos together. Maggie and Sheriff Acosta are there and even Audrey’s dad showed up for once. Once the last snapshot is taken, Brooke tells everyone to come over to her place that evening to celebrate.
As the group disbands, Emma reaches out and gently grabs Audrey’s arm, holding her back for a moment.
“Mom, can you take one more? Just us?”
Maggie smiles and nods, grabbing Emma’s phone to take the photo. Emma wraps her arm around Audrey and pulls her close. “I need a good one for my dorm room,” she explains. Audrey can’t help but smile.
As soon as school ends, summer begins.
It’s even harder now, with Emma seemingly omnipresent, though Audrey knows that’s what it means to have a best friend. But the downside of being around Emma constantly is that it causes Audrey to continue to analyze all of their interactions, no matter how small, and inevitably read into things that just aren’t there. They can’t be.
It’s a form of torture, really. Maybe by bringing them back together, Piper and Kieran somehow knew it would be.
It certainly feels that way.
“Are you okay?” Emma asks. She’s sitting across from Audrey at a table inside of The Grindhouse, both of their laptops open as they register for their first semester classes.
“Yeah, sorry, must have zoned out,” Audrey mumbles.
“You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“Uh, yeah, I’m just,” the shorter girl shrugs, “nervous about college.”
The fact that both of them will be starting at Lakewood University in mere weeks just adds to Audrey’s problem. Audrey’s only going because they offered her a scholarship and she couldn’t afford not to, even though she much rather run far, far away from this place. For whatever reason though, Emma wanted to stay close to home. It doesn’t make sense to Audrey, but at least they decided not to be roommates.
I don’t want you to get sick of me, Emma had joked in a text. Audrey never responded.
Emma sighs, shifting in her seat, “You know I can tell when something’s bothering you, right?”
“I’m fine. Seriously.”
Emma’s looking at her all doe-eyed and concerned and Audrey isn’t sure she’s going to last much longer without breaking.
“Okay,” Emma eventually replies, although it’s clear she wants to say more.
When Brooke asks Audrey to come over to help “reorganize her closet” before she leaves for New York, Audrey should have immediately known something was going on. They spend a whole ten minutes going through a few perfectly color-coded shirts hanging on the rack before the blonde makes her move.
“You know you can talk to me, right?” Brooke starts, flipping her hair casually, “Like, about anything. Even something you may not want Emma to know.”
Brooke may be theatrical, but she’s no actress.
Audrey’s eyes narrow immediately, “What did she say to you?”
“What? Nothing!”
“Really?”
“I just thought you seemed a little off lately,” the blonde tries.
Audrey doesn’t say anything, just shoots the other girl a look.
Brooke sighs, knowing she’s not going to win, “Okay, so Emma is worried. She thinks you’re acting weird. She doesn’t know what she did wrong.”
“I’m not…she didn’t…” Audrey huffs, throwing her hands in the air, “I’m fine.”
“Clearly.”
Audrey takes a breath and lowers her voice, “I talk to Emma every day. I don’t know what she would be so worried about.”
The blonde tilts her head, “Look. I love Emma and I love you. But can I be blunt?”
“You’re always blunt,” Audrey deadpans.
Brooke rolls her eyes, “You’re a badass, Audrey, but you wear your emotions on your sleeve. We can all tell when something is up with you. And something is definitely up.”
Audrey doesn’t know what to say. She knows that Brooke means well, but she’s also a pipeline back to Emma. So, she doesn’t say anything.
“The thing is, for being so smart, sometimes Emma can be kind of dumb,” Brooke continues, “She may not notice the way you look at her, but I do.”
Well shit. This was not a conversation Audrey was expecting to have today.
"Did she tell you about the barn thing?” Audrey bites back, more hash than she intends.
“The barn?” Brooke looks genuinely confused, “What happened and in what barn?”
Audrey swallows, “She didn’t tell you?”
The blonde shakes her head, “I swear, I have no idea what you're talking about.”
Maybe it’s time for Audrey to let it out. Maybe Brooke won’t say anything. It’s not like she really has another option at this point. She can’t just run out with no explanation.
“Okay. It was when we were looking for Noah. When he was.. buried,” Audrey starts, “Emma kept asking what she did to make me hate her so much. You know, enough to bring Piper here. She wouldn’t let it go.”
“Uh oh,” Brooke’s eyes go wide.
“I finally told her it was because I loved her and she broke my heart. I mean, she didn't know then, but that’s still what happened,” Audrey finishes.
“Well, what did she say?”
“Nothing,” Audrey shrugs.
“Nothing?” Brooke repeats, seemingly exasperated.
“Nope. We never talked about it again,” Audrey mumbles, looking out Brooke’s window to avoid meeting the other girl’s gaze. It’s quiet for moment.
Brooke breaks the silence first, “Alright, you two need to have a serious talk. You need to tell her that you, like, still love her.”
“No. Not happening. I already know what she’ll say. It’s fine,” the brunette says quickly.
Brooke raises an eyebrow, “Why are you so sure? She didn’t even tell me about any of this. And she tells me everything.”
“She probably didn’t tell you because it’s embarrassing for her.”
“Or maybe she didn’t tell me because she’s processing her own feelings,” Brooke offers.
Audrey scoffs, shaking her head, “No way.”
“Well, regardless, you need to talk to her.”
“No. No, I don’t want to lose her again. Having her in my life as a friend is better than not having her in it at all.”
Brooke sighs, “You can’t move on from something like this without talking about it. And it’s seriously affecting you. You’ve been all brooding and emo lately.”
“I’ll be fine,” Audrey mumbles, “I should go.”
She stands up and grabs her jacket, heading towards the door.
“Audrey,” Brooke calls after her, “Look, Emma’s been way happier with you back in her life again. No matter what happens, just remember, she does really care about you.”
Audrey stops for a moment. “Please don’t say anything to her about this,” she says glancing over her shoulder.
“I won’t,” Brooke says, and for once, she looks like she means it.
Audrey makes the borderline insane decision to drive to Emma’s house. She isn’t sure if it’s because of the adrenaline released during her conversation with Brooke, or if she’s simply ready for closure, or if she just doesn’t trust Brooke to keep her mouth shut. Maybe it’s a little bit of everything.
Whatever happens is most likely going to be stupid and awkward. She can already imagine the look of pity that she will get. But at this point, somethings gotta give. Audrey hasn't slept through the night in weeks.
By the time her knuckles tap on the Duval’s front door, the pit in her stomach is all she can think about.
The door swings open moments later and Emma looks genuinely excited to see her. It’s making it even harder for Audrey to carry on with her plan.
“Can we talk?” she says quickly, avoiding the other girl’s eyes, before either of them can even greet each other.
Emma’s smile falters, “Yeah, of course.” She holds the door open, silently inviting the shorter girl inside.
They end up in Emma’s bedroom, making Audrey wonder why on earth she didn’t pick a more neutral ground for this conversation. Emma’s sitting on her bed, while Audrey opts to stand right in front of the closed door, making sure she has an easy exit available.
“So… what’s up?” Emma asks. She’s playing with one of her rings, which Audrey knows is what she does when she’s nervous.
Audrey lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, “You sent Brooke after me.”
“I didn’t send Brooke after you,” the taller girl sighs, “I just asked her to talk to you.”
“Why?”
Emma looks at the floor, “You’ve seemed off. Things were really good between us for awhile and then you just kind of… I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“You could have asked me that yourself.”
“Yeah, well, I did. And you said you were fine.”
Audrey can start to feel guilt kicking in, even through all of the pent up stress and anxiety and fear and shame that stay sitting in her chest. She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
Emma takes it as a queue to continue, “Look, I know the past year has been a lot. I know that being tied to me can be a lot. If this is about wanting to do your own thing when we start classes this fall, if you don’t want to han-”
“It’s not that,” Audrey forces herself to interrupt.
The other girl frowns, “Then what is it?”
Here we go. Like a bandaid, Jensen.
“It’s about what I said in the barn,” Audrey says, knowing that she doesn’t need to elaborate, “I know shit was going down, but you never said anything. Which is honestly kind of weird.”
Emma’s jaw flexes,“I didn’t know you wanted me to say anything.”
Audrey throws her hands up in the air and huffs,“Look, Emma, I’m not an idiot. It’s not like I thought something would happen. I just thought you would at least acknowledge that you don’t feel the same way so we could move on.”
Emma’s eyes narrow, “Move on from how you felt about me a few years ago? Or how you feel about me now?”
Audrey gulps. Maybe she should have chosen her words more carefully.
“I…I mean,” Audrey’s fight or flight response is kicking in, “Yeah, maybe I still have a thing for you. Okay? Now it’s weird. Are you happy?”
Emma moves off of her bed and stands up, “Thats not-”
“Save it, Emma. I know how this ends.”
“Audrey,” the taller girl says as she takes a few steps forward.
“It’s okay, honestly, I get it.”
“Audrey.”
Audrey’s back taps against the bedroom door. Emma’s standing directly in front of her now, closer than usual. She swallows, unable to say anything else.
Then, suddenly, Emma grabs the back of her neck and kisses her. It lasts only a few seconds before they break apart, but Audrey’s convinced that her brain stops functioning.
Emma looks at her for a moment, almost like she’s considering her options, and Audrey braces herself for the backpedaling to begin. It never does.
Because Emma leans back in and kisses her again.
As much as Audrey didn’t want to end up at Lakewood University, she has to admit, the campus does look really pretty in the fall. It’s Halloween, meaning that she’s somehow survived the first two months of college classes. It’s been a really good experience so far. She’s met a ton of new friends and finally feels free.
Audrey walks across the quad, heading towards art building where film club is throwing a horror movie marathon. Somehow, Halloween and scary movies haven’t been totally ruined for her. Once she reaches the entrance of the building, she stands outside of the main doors, checking her phone. 6:52 PM. The marathon starts at 7 PM.
She starts to compose a text but isn’t able to hit send before a large cup of coffee enters her peripheral vision.
“Two extra shots are in there, as promised,” Emma says, handing over the coffee.
“Thank you,” Audrey replies, “Now we can successfully accomplish this all-nighter.” She nods towards the matching cup in the blonde’s hand.
“Sorry that took so long,” Emma huffs, “Some frat dude in front of me was trying to convince me to go to his party tonight.”
“Tempting,” Audrey replies, “What did you tell him?”
“That I couldn’t because I was meeting my girlfriend.”
“I bet he loved that.”
Emma shrugs and kisses the shorter girl’s cheek. “The truth hurts,” she says with a smirk.
And just like that, Lakewood University becomes Audrey’s favorite place.