•

"Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind"

Spencer dithered despite the steam that poured down the hall from the bathroom. The white bathrobe clung to her sweaty and wet body as she trembled beneath it. Aria had managed to get her to relax, only slightly, by constantly being at her side. The petite brunette stood next to Spencer, who sat upon the bed, toes dug into the patterned ottoman at the foot of it.

Downstairs, Halle and Emily arrived in great haste. The moment the pair entered through the side French-doors, Halle was already calling out for her friends. "Spencer! Aria!" Her eyes darted around the dark, bare kitchen to the Hastings' house only to hear a shout from upstairs.

"Up here," Aria called back.

Quickly hurrying, Halle and Emily both clambered up the staircase and up onto the landing. Their feet banged against the carpet and carried them all the way into the lilac bedroom. Emily was first inside, going straight to Spencer. "Oh, my god, are you alright?" Emily asked and went to instantly hug the shaken girl.

"Yeah," Spencer answered, distant. Her arms worked slowly as she met Emily for the hug, just not as tight not as willing as Emily was. While it happened, Halle had gone to Aria, the latter girl just seconds away from breaking down, and Halle pulled her into her embrace.

"It was horrible," Aria squeaked into Halle's shoulder.

"Thank God Aria got here when she did," Emily said in relief.

"What happened?" Halle asked. She pulled back and flipped her head between the two girls, questioning them.

"I got locked in the steam-shower—" Spencer shook, her face a ghostly sort of pale. "I couldn't breathe."

"Christ!" Halle breathed out drastically.

Emily, full of worry, asked next, "Where's Hanna?"

"I don't know," Aria answered. She held her hand to her opposite forearm, her wrists shackled with beaded bracelets rattling as she did so. "She won't answer any of my texts or calls."

They were all staring at Spencer, who looked more withdrawn than ever. She appeared defeated, life sucked from her, in agony but trying to conceal it poorly. There was a brief silence before Emily broke it.

"So, who it?" she asked, getting to the point. "Who's helping Mona?"

Spencer's eyes had snapped to Emily when she first spoke but shifted afterward. They flittered person to person uncomfortably, and then Spencer ducked her head. "We should wait for Hanna."

"No," Aria jumped in strongly, "this is too important to wait."

"Okay—" Spencer's voice trembled as her pleading eyes flashed up to them, "but you guys need to know that I've been warned not to tell you."

"Not new information, Spence," Halle countered, shaking her head as if to dismiss her friend's fear.

"Wait, a minute," Emily said, the cogs turning in her head. She asked carefully, "You knew who it was before tonight?"

Spencer showed guilt, her face contorted up with it. "Yeah," she said, "I've known for about a week."

Immediate confusion danced upon Aria's features. "Why didn't you tell us any sooner?"

"I wanted to be sure," Spencer excused.

"Hold up, you knew?" Halle's question presented like an accusation. Offence had taken hold of her body, and Halle kept a handle of her building anger despite it obviously being there. "You knew when Jason fell down that elevator? You knew when were were sat around in the waiting room? As you held my hand in the car ride from that hospital?" The blood in her grew hotter and the dam burst. "When you yelled at me in the bathroom?"

"Halle—"

"Did you know, Spencer?!" Halle demanded furiously. "Did you know?"

"Yes!" Spencer exclaimed, her just as elevated as Halle was.

"My god! You're unbelievable," Halle said.

Spencer tried to argue, "I just found out the night before—"

"Oh, my— Oh, my god!" Halle was livid, spitting fire. "You knew who did that to Jason and Em — and you didn't tell me — us?" She, fuming, pointed angrily to her own chest and shouted, "I stood there and let you tear me apart when I could've said soooo much worse about you — and you freaking knew!"

"I didn't wanna believe that it could be true, but..." Spencer fretted, her shoulders wound up and tight, "after tonight happened, I can't keep this to myself anymore." Her teary eyes searched for Halle's, but her words were meant for the three — four including Hanna— of them. "I never meant for any of you to get hurt, I would never let him do that to you..." She cracked, her voice following suit. "... Toby is A."

Shock suffocated the room. Not a single one of them knew what to say — how to reply. It mixed with pure confusion and winded each one of the girls. It made no sense. Toby was A? Toby was working with A? The shock racked through the group, turning the room to ice. It was a bitter chill to be betrayed.

Halle took a step back, refusing it already without even considering it. She had been faced with her best friend in a near-death situation, claiming it was her ex-boyfriend who had hurt her, and Halle first reaction was to remove herself from it. "No.... No..." She began shaking her head. Suddenly, she got louder and exclaimed eventually, "No—no!"

"Yes, Halle, it's Toby," Spencer taunted her with it. "He's with A."

"Toby wouldn't do that to you." Halle refused to believe her. Softly, as if all the unspeakable revelation had raked through her and broke into her most intimate parts. "... To us."

Spencer snapped at her, "Why are you so sure?"

"Because you were lying to him," said Halle. She grew louder, near to shouting now. "Because I was the one who told Toby about A last year! I was the one who sent him to find Dr Sullivan! Toby has been in my house, around my family— Riley adores him — he's been in my room, he—" Halle came to an abrupt stop and her mouth clamped shut faster than ever.

"What? What is it?" Spencer said. Her eyes had lit up, knowing exactly why Halle had paused. "You've connected something, haven't you? What is it? What does Toby know?"

Still, Halle shook her head, "No."

"Come on," Spencer encouraged her viciously, "what did you tell him? What does he know, Halle?"

"He knew where I used to keep my pills," revealed Halle sadly.

Spencer scoffed and threw her hand up at her. "See — see! Toby is not on our side, he never was. He was probably a double-agent the whole time."

"Don't," Halle said. Her stare had turned stubborn. "We're not going there."

"We're already there," Spencer exclaimed, "He's working with A!"

"No!" shouted back Halle.

"Yes!" Spencer yelled. "Toby's the bad guy."

"He's not, Toby would never do this," Halle argued. It was her and Spencer again, fighting and tearing into each other while the others stood on and watched. "I don't believe it," she said. "I won't believe it until I hear it from him—" Halle turned around, "he owes me that much."

"Where are you going?" Emily asked her, concerned.

"To find Toby!" Halle cried at her, her throat scorched from the heat of it. She was already heading towards the door when Spencer spoke up resentfully.

"How are you gonna do that? Your new buddy Wilden gonna pull a favour for you?" Spencer asked her cruelly.

"Spencer!" Aria was the first to scold her. "I know you're hurt, but you don't get to take it out on your friends."

"Don't bother, Aria, it's wasted on her," Halle returned, her spite rearing its head to meet Spencer's own. Close to crying, Halle held back those tears and faced Spencer without remorse. "You don't have to be right all the time, Spencer."

It hadn't mattered that both Aria and Emily pleaded for Halle to stay. Halle was halfway to the door and slammed it shut before they could squeeze those pleas out. Like with the cheerleader, it had been an admittedly hard pill to swallow — to know Toby was A — but Spencer provided them with the intel she had been closely keeping.

Aria, taken aback by the new, took up a spot by the window. "So, what are we saying?" She turned back to her friends. "That what Ali wrote in Emily's notebook was true? That Toby's secretly hated us ever since Ali threw that firecracker in his garage?"

"Yeah, I guess so," a withdrawn Spencer said.

"And the whole time that..." Aria stopped her rushed questions. Finally, it hit her why Spencer had been so reckless and hurt. It broke Aria to continue. "That you two... were together, he was just pretending?"

"Okay, we all know how much Toby loves you," Emily began, and Spencer sent her a deadly glare. The swimmer ignored the burning sensation in her eyes from her tears and fought through it to deny it. "This can't be true," she said adamantly. "There has to be more to the story."

"If—" Spencer snapped back in Emily's face, "he loved me, he would not have let me sit outside of his loft bawling my eyes out for hours. Okay — he wouldn't have taken everything out of A's lair when he knew that I had the key. He wouldn't be trying to hurt me — us!" Spencer shouted, reaching the end of whatever misery she was feeling too immensely as she broke down into a series of sobs.

"I am so sorry, Spencer," Aria poured out her sympathies.

Water had leaked around Emily's bottom lashes. She gritted her teeth and remained strong. "Mona must have something over him."

Yet, it did nothing but fill Spencer with frustration. She brought her hands up to wipe away at her tears, covering the closed lids while she spoke. "Trust me, I have tried to come up with—" she removed them to stare at Emily, "every possible explanation as to why he could be doing this, and it all leads back to the same conclusion."

Brimming with emotion, Emily fiercely said, "The Toby I know would never do anything to hurt any of us."

A contorted smile wormed its way onto Spencer's face while she shrilly laughed at Emily. She was hurt and still lashed out; now Emily took the brunt of that hate.

"What's so funny?" Emily asked, clearly not in on the joke.

"You," Spencer wryly mocked. "You trying to make sense of this!" Her glare turned nasty. "You need to stop thinking about Toby as the person that you thought you knew and start looking at him for who he really is."

"And how do I do that?" Emily shot back at her, hurt.

"You look at the facts, Emily!" shouted Spencer cruelly.

"Okay—" Aria jumped in to save the cruelness Spencer was exhibiting towards her friend. "Which are?" she asked.

Upset, Spencer explained, "Mona is with the decathlon team in New York City — she couldn't have locked me in the steam room—" she aimed her final hard-hitting blow at Emily, "and that leaves Toby." She watched as Emily shook her head, and something inside Spencer snapped. "The quicker you wrap your mind around this, the better."

•

The following hour, after Spencer unloaded that filth onto her, Halle had spent driving around Rosewood. Her first place was his parents' house despite how much he hated being there: a stark reminder of his abuse he couldn't escape while he lived in his childhood home. The porch had been littered with the multiple Rosewood Observers and unanswered mail; they weren't home. Next, Halle drove was the loft, above The Brew.

Halle climbed the metal steps outside, fixed to the side of the building, and knocked loudly. With more time, her knocks became more enraged and frustrated. At one point, she considered breaking in. It wasn't so out of the ordinary for her — a felony she had on her A-wrap-sheet already — but a police cruiser drove by, and Officer Maple had soon gotten out.

"Everything okay, Halle?" asked the only friendly face on the force.

"Yeah, thanks, Officer Maple," Halle replied, with a false smile. She wouldn't call him 'Barry' like her parents did; she'd respect his title while the man donned his uniform. "Uh, just checking in on a friend."

"We got a noise complaint," Officer Maple informed her. "It's late, you should head home."

"Okay, will do," Halle said. As she came back down the steps, Halle apologised. "Sorry about the complaint."

"Apparently, it looked like a break-in," he sighed, exhausted by the suggestion.

"Nope, not break-in, just a call 'round a friend's," Halle told him, half-lying. She wouldn't tell him it crossed her mind more violently with each minute that ticked by. She started towards her car, parked by the back entrance to the closed coffee shop.

"A misunderstanding, then," said Officer Maple. He gave her a curt nod, watching her to her car. "Have a nice night, get home safe."

"You too, Officer," Halle replied politely.

Halle hadn't gone home straight away. She drove out to the Edgecourt Motor Court. All her feelings for Jason bubbled at her surface. Her mind filled with receipts: every moment, every interaction, every exchange, she and Jason had here repeated loudly in her head. It dragged her back down into that blistering resentment; her messages laid empty when it came to him.

She had pushed aside those emotions, shut down the part of her that wanted to break down and cry, and carried her feet in the booth. The lady, lit up by a weak light, recognised her through the glass and instantly reached behind her for the key to room 1-1-6, but hastily, Halle stopped her.

"No, no, I'm not—" Halle's waved the woman off with her hand. "I'm looking for a friend of mine, he's here before," she said. "Can I—?" Halle reached into her coat and pulled out her mobile, going through her camera roll for a photograph of Toby. The last one she had was from Halloween: a selfie of the pair of them, his cheek pressed to hers as they grinned brightly. Feeling the tug to want to smile at the memory, Halle's heart ached. She shook it from her and held it up to the window. "Have you seen him at all? His name is Toby, he—"

"That's not the name he uses here, missy," interrupted the lady, chewing obnoxiously at her gum.

Shock hit Halle in the gut and she stammered, somewhat thankful someone had seen him. "He— I, uh— He's— He's been here, recently?" Halle asked her, pointing at the desk.

"Not in this week," replied the worker. "He comes by, stay three days, then leaves. Pays cash, wears a black hoodie a lot," she said, and Halle got crushed.

A.

Toby was A.

Halle's bottom lip trembled. "Okay, thanks. Thank you." She went to turn — to leave — but Halle faced the woman again. "Sorry, what name does he use?"

"Didn't say," said the woman. She smacked her lips. "And it's gonna cost ya."

In an instant, Halle cracked the case from her phone, bending its silicone, to reveal some green. She handed over whatever she had in there and slid it under the display-glass.

Smirking, the woman collected up the folded up notes. She flicked through it, eyes glinting up at the two tens and one twenty, and then shoved it down her top, most likely inside her bra. "Eddie," she said. "Eddie Lamb."

That name had stayed with her all drive home. All night. Halle tossed and turned with that name on her mind — on her lips. Eddie Lamb. Eddie Lamb. She kept chanting it over in case she forget it. Halle was tempted to jot it down in her A-notebook, with all the rest of her questions and answers, but until Halle had confirmation Toby was really A — definitive proof — not just Spencer and the lady who worked the late-night shift at the Edgecourt — then Toby was a four-letter word that was kept far away from that notebook.

Deciding to dig further, Halle went to her mother. Luisa Brewster, pillar of Rosewood community, regular face at church and around town, smiled and rolled down her car-window to talk to any passer-by. Halle loathed it, but now it benefited her.

At breakfast, Halle broached the subject of Toby. "Hey, Mom," Halle started, trying to sound indifferent. "Have you heard off the Cavanaugh's at all? It's just, I drove past their place last night— you know, when I dropped Em off — and the porch was covered in mail."

"That's because they're on a cruise, honey," Luisa responded, knowledgeful. She was sitting at the kitchen table beside Riley, who ate her cocopops happily, with a hot steaming cup of coffee and Greek yoghurt with melon and honey. As Halle helped herself to some of the cantaloupe, Luisa led into her gossip, "Marlene told everyone who'd listen at Angela Hawkins' book club, three weeks ago. She was bragging about it, apparently. Angela told Jean Ackard — you know, Sean's mother — at church that Marlene was livid it almost got cancelled because of what happened on the Halloween train."

"Yeah, not like someone was shot and guests weren't  drinking off a body-bag all night," Nick Brewster remarked sarcastically, from where he poured himself a fresh coffee.

"So, they're out of town?" Halle asked curiously, crunching into a piece of the sweet fruit.

Luisa hummed, "From what I gathered."

Next, Halle questioned, "Do you know if they took Toby with them at all?"

But Nick had gotten in first, laughing at the very suggestion. "That's unlikely," he said, as he came over to join his family at the kitchen table. "I think I saw Toby more recently than his dad."

"When was that?" Halle asked, eyes wide.

"Last Monday," Riley answered, and Halle's stare snapped to her little sister.

Nick confirmed as he sat, "We bumped into him after Riley's ballet lesson."

"How was he? Did he say anything?" Halle's questions began to sound like an interrogation, just brimming with panic.

"What's going on, Hal?" asked Nick knowingly. "Has something happened?"

"Just..." Halle felt three sets of eyes fixed to her and still she lied. "Him and Spencer broke up, she's really going through it, and I haven't heard off him. I went by his place last night, but..." Halle glanced down. "No answer. He's not answering my calls either," she said.

"He probably needs space," Luisa said gently. "You know how Toby is, he's sensitive. Lord, it makes sense after all he's been through with his family." She shook her head, a hand falling to her heart in an earnest manner. "Loses his mother then within the year, his dad remarries. Then that awful thing with the fire," she recalled, seemingly haunted just by the shock that rolled through the town from the catastrophic accident. "I know Toby swears his step-sister wasn't in there— and I believe him," she briskly added, too sincere. "But I almost think him setting it on fire was the poor boy acting out, trying to get his father's attention." Luisa sighed depressingly, "It's just a shame someone got hurt the way they did."

It surprised Halle all the time. In a year, the awkward floundering her mother did when Halle had asked her folks if Toby could stay for dinner and the pressure her father put on his wife to allow it to happen, vanished. To Luisa, he was another child having to grow up they way she did, with a parent who struggled with their mental health. To Nick, he was a keen mind to share DIY skills with regularly, who actually enjoyed his 'dad' jokes. To Myles, he was a non-judging ear; and to Riley, Toby was surely her favourite person. Toby was part of the furniture. His name was often spoken now, mostly with joy, not whispered for gossip sake. Halle didn't want to shatter that relationship — a home Toby felt safe in, his ability to be welcome at a table with her family — not over A.

A wouldn't steal this.

Not yet.

"I miss Toby," Riley voiced. Even at nine-years-old, and growing, she still sounded so tiny whenever she spoke. Halle thought it was the innocence — that life hadn't hurt Riley yet so it hadn't tainted her speech. "He promised he'd fix my toy chest."

"I can fix it for you, Riles," Nick offered kindly.

"No." It was short and sweet the way his daughter cut him off. Riley smiled and said, "Toby promised, he'll fix it for me."

"Okay—" Halle had to blink back the extra water in her eyes, "I'm gonna go."

"Actually," Luisa interrupted, making Halle stop mid-escape. "I wanted to ask what you wanted us to do about Detective Wilden."

Halle groaned loudly, craning her head back to the ceiling. "Can you drop it?"

"He won't," Nick told her. "Three messages he left with my secretary yesterday."

"But I ain't doing anything, we're not pressing charges because it's crap," Halle firmly said. "My friends didn't send those texts, so he can back off."

Absorbing it, Luisa then asked, "I was wondering whether to let your friends' parents know what's been said. I'd want to know if it was said about my daughter."

"That's you," Halle sassily countered, to received a warning glare from her mother. "Sorry," said Halle, "but, I don't think it's important. They didn't do it, and the girls know — I told them."

"I think we should tell Veronica," Luisa kept going. "At the very least," she said. "She has been your lawyer whenever we've needed her."

Halle gave in. "Do what you like, I don't care."

As Halle went to leave, Nick spoke up. "Where are you going?"

"I have physio with Coach Rhodes," Halle said, dismissive of his concern no matter how wild it was. "I gotta go," she added, already out of the kitchen door without so much of a glance back.

She carried Toby's betrayal heavy in her chest. It began to hurt more as time ticked by. The more she focused on it, the more painful it became and everything else started to match up to it. The throbbing tightness from the right side of her body from last year's broken ribs and the cabinet incident two weeks prior returned ten-fold. Halle, although she despised early mornings and having to go to physio, was beyond thankful she had to go.

Yet, Halle hadn't expected that tiny slither of graciousness to be ripped from her the second she stepped into private rehearsal room.

Noel Kahn.

"Out," Halle demanded immediately. "Get the hell out, I have the room."

He started to chuckle at her and said, "Well, looks like we're sharing."

"Absolutely not—" Halle shook her head adamantly. "Oh, hell no — get out," she said, making a show of holding the door open for him.

Only, Coach Rhodes came waltzing in. "Oh, good, you're both here," she said, smiling. The woman spared a glance to Halle. "Thanks, Halle. Morning, Noel."

"Morning, Coach," said Noel politely.

As her cheer coach entered and went over the ledge to set her bag down, Halle followed her. "Coach," Halle began. "You know I respect you, but I can't work with him."

"Why not?" Coach asked, not looking up at her.

"Because," Halle gave, as if that was a solid enough reason. She couldn't exactly spew all the reasons she distrusted Noel, with number one being his awful taste in girlfriends and number two being he was shady.

"Well, while that's thrilling, I'm struggling to care," remarked Coach Rhodes sardonically. She faced Halle head-on. "Suck it up," she bluntly said. "I know you girls tend to think the world centres around you, but he's here for physio, not to annoy you."

Scrunching up her face, Halle threw Noel a glare over her shoulder. "What does he even need physio for?"

Coach Rhodes checked Halle with a glower. "I will not tolerate any nastiness from you. Noel has been a perfectly willing participant in physio for a few weeks now, you're taking up his session not the other way around. He needs muscle therapy, his coach says one side is slower than the other. Same as you, really." Coach Rhodes tapped Halle's shoulder twice. "Suck it up, he's staying."

"Fine," grumbled Halle, pushing down her irritation. "But ain't happy about it."

"Not gonna bother me as long as you show up and do the work," Coach Rhodes replied. "And fix your face, don't make my hour here miserable too. At least Noel has the right attitude for this," she commented, and Halle looked over to find Noel sharing the signature Kahn-grin with the room.

Halle cursed under her breath, "Lord, kill me."

•

It felt wrong. The chair was empty to the left of the sofa. Even after coffee was ordered and half-drank, and the cupcakes had been consumed, their eyes kept shifting between the bare armchair and the door to The Brew.

Halle hadn't shown up.

Of course Spencer didn't send an 'SOS', but the urgency was still there. Her text came shortly after eleven and told them about her wreath delivery from A. It had been Aria who suggested meeting at their local haunt, but even as texts flooded the group-chat from most of the members, it remained silent from Halle's end. Emily sensed it was happening again: last night had pushed Halle over and the cheerleader began distancing herself from the group again.

"I told you I was warned," grumbled Spencer, faffing about with her bag, struggling excessively with its zip. She shoved it down by her feet, fed up with it, and shook out the sugar packet for her fresh coffee. "If I ratted out T—" The packet was flung from her grasp, "A was gonna go on a takeout spree," she said, and collected it back up.

Watching her best friend in concern, Aria, with her hand rubbing the back of her neck, said softly, "She's just trying to scare us."

While Spencer scoffed, Hanna put in, "Yeah, well, it's working." She looked to her side, at Emily, and said, "And you need to stop looking for Toby, just let it go."

Aria dropped her hand just as Spencer snapped her stare up at her friend, eyes wide and startled. "You're looking for Toby? Why?!"

Emily sighed, "It's not that I don't believe what you said— Okay, but he's my friend too," she added in defensively, "so I need to hear this from him."

"Okay, I understand that, but I looked for him for a week," Spencer said, almost glowering. "Trust me, he doesn't wanna be found."

"I could say the same for another person," Hanna mumbled.

Aria switched onto that. "Have any of you heard from Halle today? I tried calling when I left Ezra's, but I got her voicemail," she said.

"She's not answering anyone, it's not just you," Emily said glumly. "I think she's distancing herself again, like before."

Feeling the weight of her guilt, Spencer replied, "It's because of me, because of how I took it out on her last night."

"No, that's not—" Aria stopped her assurance and bared her teeth, conceding, "Yeah, yeah, you did go too hard."

"You always go too hard on Halle," Emily suddenly remarked, and her friends looked up to her stunned. Yet, Emily persisted, "Just because Halle can take it, doesn't mean she should have to."

"I'll call around later, apologise. Maybe get her the chocolate-peanut butter cupcakes she likes," Spencer hinted.

"From Lucky Leon's? Oh, yeah, she'd have to let you in the door with those," Aria agreed wholeheartedly. "She can't say no to them."

"Oh, god!" Hanna's abrupt groan interrupted them and they faced her in confusion. "I just had a bad thought," she said, face scrunched up like she had just ate something in credibly sour. When Emily glared at her, Hanna swiftly defended, "What? It's not like I can control when they come, they just do."

"Go on, then," Aria said. "What's the bad thought?"

Taking a big breath, Hanna posed a question to her friends, "What if Halle's had another memory?" She pressed, "What if she's remembered something else?"

"Hanna," Spencer appeased her, no matter how uneasy the blonde's question had left her, "I think it's just me."

"Oh, thank you!"

Mona's over-polite manners caused Aria to stiffen. The hairs on the back of Aria's neck stood up straight and her jaw automatically clenched at the sight of their old — and most likely present — tormentor at the cashier. Aria asked, "How long has she been standing there?"

In a flash, Spencer was up. Her torn open sugar packets were forgotten as her eyes frosted over with an adulterated rage.

"Spencer, wait—" Emily rose to stop her, panic rushing through her. "What are you doing?"

However, Spencer charged forward. Whether she heard or her searing temper had deafened her, the group weren't sure. They were sure this interaction would end badly; Spencer's intensity was evidence, and Hanna got up to follow her.

Mona turned her head, sensing a brooding presence nearing her. "Hello," she met and faced Spencer fully.  She remarked with a little sass, "You're not planning on choking me again, are you?"

"No." A wry smile twisted upon Spencer's face. She said, just as Hanna pushed her hand into her jean-pockets in discomfort, "I just wanted to say thank you, for the flowers. The orchids are especially beautiful."

"I... have no idea what you're talking about," returned Mona, appearing entirely clueless and smiling at that fact. She added in, half a taunt, "Might be time to visit your doctor friend again."

Instantly, Spencer switched up. Her tone got steady and careful. "Listen to me, Mona." A certain kind of sternness filled her voice, burning down at the girl. "I'm not playing around. Do not hurt my friends. Okay, if you so much as touch one hair on their heads, I will make you very sorry." Firmly, she said, "Am I clear?"

Patronizingly, Mona put her head at a slight tilt, angled up at Spencer. "Looks like someone's skipping their anger management class." She reached out for the counter and snatched up her take-away cup. "I think I'll take my pumpkin spice latte... to go," she made a point to say, smirking at she went to turn. Yet, Mona paused. She turned back. "Oh—" Getting super close to Spencer, Mona leaned in and lowered her voice, "But a little tip on the orchids, make sure not to leave them in direct sunlight." Her voice dropped, revealing once again that Mona was never really clueless about anything. "I did once, they didn't make it through the night."

Hanna's eyes widened at the statement while Spencer dug her nails into the palm of her reddening hands. Crescent moons formed in them, and Mona chose to look past the pair and into the the secluded seating area the five friends tended to frequent. Mona stared directly at Emily, who looked startled at the attention, but then Mona withdrew.

Humming, Mona told Spencer with a smile, "You're missing one."

•

Spencer's knocking got incessant. Her determined nature hadn't cowered under Toby's darkening betrayal, one that was crudely casting a large shadow onto Halle now. Even when she was now inside the Brewster house, at the kitchen island, with two packaged cupcakes to soften the blow, Spencer didn't let up. Even with a patient and listening Halle staring back at her. Spencer shoved down a badge, green with 'RADLEY' in white at the top.

"There," Spencer said. "There's your proof. Toby's badge into Radley to see Mona. He was sneaking in, and that's the name he'd use."

Eddie Lamb.

Halle had gone silent. She didn't speak. Her eyes remained focused on the name tag and Toby's face beside it. Gone was the cheek-to-cheek grins and now Halle had this cold, calculated photograph of Toby burnt into her mind, Eddie Lamb beside it.

"You can take it, put it in your notebook with everything else," Spencer insisted. "You have the proof now, it shows you I wasn't lying." Her brown eyes watched Halle's unresponsive attitude and grew wild with desperation. Spencer's voice cracked as she beg, "Please, you have to believe this... Believe me."

Mad, Halle snapped back instantly, "Like I asked you to believe me when I came to you about That Night?" She narrowed her eyes at Spencer. "Funny now the shoe's on the other foot, right?"

Spencer took that blow like a champion, swallowing it back expectantly. She stayed mostly calm. "Okay, I don't blame you for being pissed off at this, but Toby is working with A and this—" she purposefully pointed down at the badge, "proves it. He's on the A-team and he's using Eddie Lamb to—"

Cutting in, Halle said, "I know about Eddie Lamb."

"What?" Spencer froze. "How—? How do you—?" The girl could never quite finish a sentence, unable to compute with what her friend was telling her.

"I went looking for Toby last night," Halle revealed. "I checked three places: the loft, his parents' house, and the Edgecourt. The woman there told me he stayed there, hasn't seen him in a few days, and... that he didn't go by Toby when he stayed. Eddie Lamb cost me forty-bucks," she bitterly finished.

"So you believe me?" Spencer asked, eyes watery as she practically begged Halle to answer her question.

"I believe you," Halle gave her, and Spencer let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you," praised Spencer, bursting with graciousness.

"But you have to stop obsessing over this, Spence," Halle lectured. "I did one night and I think I could lose it, I don't know what a week did to you." Tenderly, Halle advised her best friend, "Leave it alone, don't drive yourself insane."

After Spencer's lips quivered for a few seconds, she eventually let out a loud sob. "God!" She buried her head in her hands, tangling her fingers through her hairs. She pulled at her roots, frustrated at herself and how clueless she had been. Looking up, her eyes were glazed over with tears. "I thought he loved me," she cried, hands flying out in defeat.

Empathy poured from Halle. "He fooled me, too." She said in annoyance, getting worked up as well, "Like, I let him in my house, he's been at family dinners— Riley freaking adores him." Then, after pausing to recollect, Halle exhaled forcibly. "Sweet or salty?"

"What?" Spencer sucked in a shaky breath, slightly lost at the question. Her tear-stained face was hard for Halle to stare at. Spencer looked too much like an injured baby deer, sniffling with glassy doe-eyes.

"Well, I'm guessing you ain't ate yet and you'll need something to soak up all the coffee you had at The Brew," Halle said knowingly, venturing to the fridge. She opened it, glancing back. "So, either we're gonna eat those cupcakes now, or I'm gonna make you something. Sweet or salty?"

A small, tempting smile came onto Spencer's face. "Did your mom bake her sourdough loaf?"

Halle returned the smile before she faced the contents of her fridge. She hummed, taking in each shelf. "Turkey... cheddar, tomato, arugula, mayo?" Halle peeked at Spencer, who was now beaming.

Spencer's smile had turned into a delighted grin. "Please, and—"

"No coffee, Spence, I'm cutting you off," Halle mentioned.

Chuckling, Spencer joked, "Okay, Mom."

Busy grabbing at the items from the refrigerator, Halle didn't notice how Spencer got distracted. The Hastings girl's eyes were pulled towards the pink petals of the tulips and softly, she admired the display.  "Are they...?" Spencer swallowed back her nerves and pushed her question out. "Are they from Jason?"

"What—?" Halle span, brows knitted together to create the crease between them, to then deflate at the sight of the bouquet. "Oh, yeah." She nudged the fridge shut and brought the ingredients over. Her features had fallen drastically, the ache in her bruised chest returned. Halle set down the food and then picked up the card wedged in the flowers, showing it to her friend. "'Sorry'  — can you believe that?" A scoff left her, "I thought he almost died, and we get that postcard when he skips town that very same night, and he says sorry."

Gently, Spencer sympathised, "He couldn't stay, Hal, you know that."

"Well, I deserve better," said Halle shortly. Annoyance coursed through her fast, and in the immediate aftermath, Halle picked up the flowers, travelled over to the trash-can and forced her foot down onto the peddle. She dumped them in anger. The lid crashed down and crushed them, the stems bruised immediately from where they were trapped between the metal. Yet, Halle seemed to be callous as she walked away. "No happy endings, it's all pointless."

Spencer recognised the lashing out. She had been there herself more recently and, unfortunately, Halle was the one of the receiving end of that hatred. Halle, struggling, still took herself out on who it was caused by — herself — and now, her favourite flower.

Spotting one hung out, near to falling, Spencer travelled to grasp at it. In her hand, she held a bent pink tulip and moved to set it down in front of Halle, on the kitchen island. Then, Spencer hugged her best friend closely, waiting in silence, patiently, as Halle wrapped her arms back around Spencer and gripped tighter.

•

SOS
from: Han

That very text hastened Halle out of her house and brought her to drive to the Marin house. Yet, while their usual SOS-texts were sent in extreme urgency — most likely something to do with A — this has struck Halle to the core. She couldn't recall how many times the cam-footage looped, but each time, she left horrified.

"I don't understand," Hanna freaked out. Her panic was heightened and rolled into rushed speech; the girls were now in the kitchen. "I hit that black box like a hundred times, and it didn't even crack." Her eyes were blown wide, wild with alarm while her entire upper body stiffened. "The video just kept on playing over and over."

"I don't think that it really matters," Aria reasoned, refusing to meet the large hammer on the kitchen island, "because whoever put that car in your garage has probably made copies."

"Well, it has to be A," said Hanna adamantly. "Why would Wilden put his car in there?"

"Maybe, I don't know — revenge?" Halle put in, almost baffled it hadn't occurred to either of her friends. She stayed on the opposite side of the island, leant on her elbows, taking the whole thing rather well once it had settled. It wasn't strange to Halle any longer — how accustomed she became to crime. "Your mom did kind of mow him with down with a car, Han, you don't get over that. Exhibit A—" she gestured out to the blonde then back to herself, "exhibit B."

"Okay," Aria absorbed it all, "so if A did this, and nobody's seen Wilden— " Her breathing started to hasten. "Wait, does that mean that Wilden's dead and that A has his body?"

With a heavy sigh heaved, Hanna said, "I don't know."

"It's in A's handbook," Halle said, pressing her lips together. "Ian 2.0."

Aria took in an unsteady breath, her hands shaking. She needed something to occupied them and to fix her dry mouth. She sighed and moved towards the refrigerator. She gripped the long handle and looked back at Hanna over her shoulder. "I think that maybe you should tell your mom," she said, and without asking, Aria opened the fridge and collected out three sealed bottles of water.

Meanwhile, Hanna entire face fell. Shock overcame her. "What?!"

Two bottles were tucked under arm, squashed to her side; Aria shut the fridge-door. "She can handle a lot more than you think," she said, grabbing a bottle from between her body to gift to Halle.

"Aria, our moms are totally different," Hanna argued against it just as Aria offered her a water too. "Mine hit the accelerator, remember?"

"To protect you," Halle calmly said. "You heard that tape, Wilden threatened her with you."

"That doesn't make up for the fact she hit him, Halle," replied Hanna. "And besides," she began, "I don't wanna involve her until we know what we're dealing with."

"She already is involved, Hanna!" exclaimed Aria desperately. "She is on that video, and it really doesn't look good for her."

Admittedly, Halle agreed. She was gentler in her approach. "You can't see him reach for his gun from that angle, Han."

"Well, if A drove it here, who knows what's next?" said Hanna obviously. None of the girls had cracked open their drinks; Aria and Hanna still held onto theirs while Halle's rested untouched in front of her. "The cops could be on their way," Hanna stressed. Then, an idea came to her. Her shoulders shot up and back, and Hanna went to ordering her friends on what to do. "You know what, just get in your car." She put down the bottle. "Follow me," she said, passing Aria on the way to front door.

Aria spun, lips parted in confusion. "Where are we going?"

Torch Lake.

Using the backroads, and staying clear of the centre of town — where the police station was — Aria and Halle drove in silence behind Hanna in Detective Wilden's unmarked cruiser. Barely anybody was out at this time; they past three cars in total, not gaining any unwanted attention. As they got closer to the lake, Hanna made a left turn and drove off-road until she was practically on the bank.

"What is she doing?" Aria asked, as she crept up the road closely behind her in her car.

It clicked for Halle, who sighed in defeat. "She's getting rid of his car and the box."

Aria's eyes snapped to Halle; her foot slapped down down to the brake. The car jolted to an abrupt stop and the seatbelt kept Halle from being wrenched forward. "What?!"

"Christ, Aria! What the hell?" Halle cursed out irritably. Her hand was pressed to the glovebox, her body slightly discombobulated by the jarring stop.

"What do you mean she's getting rid of his car?" Aria asked her in shock.

"I mean, exactly that, you maniac— God, you don't brake like that," Halle said, rubbing her side.

"What do you mean she's getting rid of his car?" Aria repeated again, stronger this time.

"Take a look for yourself— look!" said Halle, alerting Aria's eyes forward. There, the car was now positioned on the shore, just a few feet from the water's edge, with Hanna half out of it waving her hand to grab their attention.

Aria turned off her engine, not wanting to draw attention. This was now a scene of a crime, and Aria was damned if she was going down for something she hadn't even known was happening. She got out and instantly had Hanna, "What do you think you'd doing? You can't just get rid of Wilden's car at the bottom of the lake?"

"It can't come back to my mom," Hanna fretted. "If we get rid of the evidence — the tape — then nobody at the station will see it."

While Halle climbed out of Aria's passenger seat, Aria asked Hanna, "What if A, or Wilden has copies already?"

"Then, we'll deal with it later, but right now we have to deal with this," Hanna demanded. Her impulsive leaning was always her worst trait, but the cogs in Halle's head made it fit perfectly.

If this got out — if somebody saw this — life would never be the same again. Ashley Marin would go to jail.

They'd lose Hanna.

Halle would lose Hanna, and Halle couldn't take another blow of losing another person.

"Let's hurry, we can't risk someone finding us," Halle remarked, stripping herself of her jacket. She met Hanna's soft, thankful smile as she tossed it onto the car seat. She was left in her white racer-back top and jeans, and Halle immediately took charge. "You guys at the back, I'll direct you using the wheel."

Loud grunting sounded from the back end of the car where Aria and Hanna pushed at the bumper. Their palms were firmly pressed into the metal and they used their legs to forced it down with all their might. Halle, pushing also, was at the front, half-out the door. She carefully guided the car down the bank, using her foot on the frame of the driver's door and her hands on wheel as she steered it towards the deeper area of lake. It rolled slowly, inching forward.

"Almost there," Halle said. "Almost at the edge— There's a steep dip and it's just gonna roll down after that."

"I really don't think this is a good idea," Aria whined.

"Well, it's the best one we got," Halle chided. Her features scrunched up in disgust; her trainers were filling with water, soaking her white cotton socks. "I'm gonna—ugh— gag," she said, while simultaneously doing so at the sensory overload.

"Just keep pushing," Hanna said firmly. She strained, putting all her strength into getting the vehicle down the small bank. Her mind was solely fixated on her mother — on sorting this for her — of protecting her.

"There's gotta be a better solution!" said Aria in a whisper-yell.

"Well, there isn't!" Hanna returned in the same volume and tone.

Aria deflated and stopped. She retracted away from the car, wringing her red hands from their tight stress-knots, and glanced down to the water. Halle was ankle deep now, but the lake barely covered the halfway point of the front wheel. Another sigh left her, and Aria said, "I'm serious, Hanna." She had gotten close to the blonde, arguing with the profile of Hanna's face. "We really, really need to re-think this."

Annoyed that she was the most uncomfortable and compromised, Halle caved in. "Screw it," she said.

"Screw what?" Aria asked, panicked.

"Screw this," Halle clarified and got into the car. She wasn't losing Hanna. With the driver's door open, the front windows down, Halle turned the keys and kicked up the engine.

"What are you doing?!" Aria screeched, horrified.

In an instant, without much effort from Hanna, the car went rolling into the water. Halle had driven down and plunged it into the lake, the water rushing in around her and filling up.

"Too late," Hanna commented in the first moment, observing the vehicle as it began to sink. Swiftly, she was in the water too, forgetting about her favourite designer knee-highs to check on Halle, as Aria watched on with her face ashen. "Are you okay? Are you crazy?" Hanna asked, wary as the car's insides were now submerged with water.

"You're so lucky I love you," Halle told her, chuckling at the terrible situation she put herself through. She flashed Hanna a quick, reassuring smile, even while water was rapidly gaining height around her. "We need to keep pushing, it's not gonna sink like this," she said.

Hanna, close to welling up, said, "Thank you."

"You'd do it for me," Halle easily replied, earnest in that belief.

Unwillingly an accomplice, Aria was first at the trunk. "We need to open all the doors, make the water sink it," she advised logically. "The lake will damage everything too." Even as she cringed when the water eventually leaked over the top of her own boots and into them, drenching her socks and green jeans, she, too, had joined them in submerging this car.

"Good idea," Halle said, and she leant over to unlock the passenger door. Another large gush of water entered from the other side, crushing Halle with an influx of waves. After making sure Halle was out safely, Hanna had trudged to open the back left door while Aria did the same on the right; the car steadily began to weigh itself further into the lake.

However, the three kept shoving, waving thigh-deep into the lake, still forcing that damned car in deeper. They were at the trunk, hands back on it as they pushed. Water bubbled around the open doors and filled the inside until it brimmed. Still, the girls continued concealing it deeper. They were wadding past their waists now as they gave the very last push.

"I thought it would sink faster," Aria wryly mentioned, as they at last returned to dry land.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Hanna, her white shirt was now a murky brown like it had been dunked in disgusting cold coffee. All three were sopping wet as they watched on.

"Nothing like the movies, huh?" Halle dryly remarked, a quick glance down at her body which was soaked through.

"Well?" said Aria expectantly. "What if it just stays there like that?"

"It'll sink," Hanna said irritably.

Glancing back and forth between the car and her friends, Aria said forcibly, "They're gonna be looking for his car."

"I know," Hanna acknowledged.

"Look—" Aria's panic set in, "if they find it and they trace it back to us, we are totally screwed."

Hanna had considered it. "Yep."

"Good job water destroys evidences," Halle offered in. She glanced down at her feet. "Can say the same for my trainers." Then, she looked to Aria at the end. "Besides, we have an alibi."

"We do?" questioned Aria, voice going up high.

"We do," Hanna nodded. "We were at mine all night, we watched chic-flicks and ate a gallon of Chunky Monkey between us," she said.

Aria thought everything through — all the questions the police would ask them. "And when car's GPS says he was in your garage? What do we say then?"

Halle rolled her eyes and retorted, "It's gonna show he was at the house, not in her actual garage."

And Hanna had a robotic answer to that as well. "He stopped by, threatened us like he did yesterday at The Brew. We can ask Emily's boss to hand over the CCTV, it'll show he came in and it'll back up he was stalking us," she explained.

"He's got a history to back that up, too," Halle said.

Just then, the water start to bubble up more. It gurgled, like water spiralling down a plug-hole, and plunged deep underneath. The surface rippled with circles, bubbles popped up along the spot.

"Told you it would sink," Hanna said.

Aria went to voice her relief when her eyes did a double-take. Underneath the lake's murky depth, where water spluttered up, a red light glowed brightly. It was the cop-cherry upon the roof, above the driver's side of the door. While it flashed, the three held their breath. Dread filled them until, finally, it stopped.

Sharply, Aria let out an audible sigh; it was fully sunk now. Her hand flew out to grip at Hanna's leather jacket. "Come on, let's go."

•

Using the overgrowth as cover, Halle had strategically changed in her car. She was hidden by the bend of Bridgewater, parking up just beyond the DiLaurentis house, and messily discarded of her wet clothes for her gym ones. Halle's top and jeans ruined by lake water were balled up and concealed in her duffel-bag while she wore her grey sport's top, the Rosewood High emblem on her chest, and Shark-blue shorts.

Once she had driven around the dip in the road and parked on her drive, Halle fought fiercely not the look back. One quick glance behind her — at the DiLaurentis house — and she'd be a wreck. Tonight was about not losing another person close to her. That cursed house haunted her; it was the most physical reminder she lost Jason. So, after she had climbed out, Halle took a moment to pause and buried that secondary nature deep within, and shut the door.

She started up the driveway to rear off to the left of the house. Halle was tempted to shimmy up the drainpipe and climb in, but it wasn't late enough that her folks would be tucked up in bed, and Halle quickly disregarded that idea and went around the back of the house, through the porch. Her plan to sneak through the back, throw everything into the washing machine, and simply walk past the living room to bed, where her parents no doubt were watching television was immediately scuppered when she saw the kitchen light on.

"Crap," Halle muttered. She entered the back porch and then into the main house, where the yellow-lights shone above the kitchen. Nick Brewster was nosing about in the refrigerator, still in his suit but gone were his blazer and tie. "Hey," Halle sheepishly greeted, and his gaze went to her.

Nick smiled at her. "Hey," he said, going back to the fridge.

She hid her dangling duffel-bag behind her, its bottom damp from her drenched clothes. "I thought you'd be in the front room with mom," Halle said.

"Working late," Nick told her. "Your mom's in the bath."

"Right," Halle said, gifting him a pressed smile.

"What are you hiding, Halle?" asked Nick, and dread consumed Halle instantly.

Her eyes went large, but Halle denied it. "I'm not."

Without casting a glance back at her, reached in for the eggs, Nick questioned her, "Then, why are you dripping on my floor?"

Halle's eyes shot down the ground. Behind her, sure enough, was a collection of water droplets, soon to be a puddle. "Oh—" She looked at him, caught out, and lied, "I split hot chocolate all the way down my top and we put it in the machine at Hanna's only to find out her dryer is broken."

"You put your jeans in?" he asked.

"What?" Halle was confused.

Finally, Nick once again looked at his daughter. He peered down at her cheer-shorts, referring to the full-outfit she donned and not just a top.

"Oh, I got it on them too," Halle tried lying, painfully smiling her way through it. "They're completely soaked through, sorry."

"I don't need the apology, it happens to the best of us," Nick replied. He shut the fridge and went to the counter, beside the stove, with the eggs and butter. "Go stick them in the wash."

"Sure thing."

Halle flashed him a quick smile then went to move across the kitchen, to the door to the right of it, where the laundry room was. As she passed by, something caught Halle's eyes and she stopped. She crumbled, knees buckling. Her previously blooming bouquet of tulips once more filled a vase, their stems bruised and leaking at the points of impact; they were a little lack-lustre and wilting over now, beaten but still beautiful.

Softly, Halle said, "You didn't have to do that."

"I didn't—" Nick peered back at her, "your mom did." He countered, "You didn't have to chuck an entire bouquet either."

"Suppose," mumbled Halle, looking down at her feet in guilt. She wriggled her toes within her cheer-trainers, uncomfortable by her earlier reaction.

"She said you didn't text to say you were missing dinner." While she started for the laundry room, Nick asked her curiously, "Have you been at Hanna's the whole time?"

Halle had just crouched down, mid-unzip of her duffel. "Uh, yeah."

"Doing what? You usually let one of us know," mentioned Nick.

Shoving the sopping mess — her clothes all clumped together — into the machine, Halle called back as a dry joke, "Committing a felony."

Her dad let out a chuckle, no doubt smiling at what he assumed was sharp wit. "Good one." Nick said, "I don't think I should laugh considering all the murder this town has seen, but nice to know you've still got your humour." He asked, as Halle shoved a laundry-pod into the machine with her clothes and trainers, "Did you eat?"

"Just ice-cream," answered Halle. She shut the washing machine door and pressed 'start'. She came out just as her dad asked another question, closing the door behind her.

"Hungry?" His brows raised up at her.

"Starving," Halle said, smiling at him.

"Go shower and get warm, come down when you're done," Nick said kindly to her. "Scrambled eggs, done my way."

Halle travelled to him and leant up to kiss his cheek. "Thanks, Dad."

Nick gently smile at the affection. "Anytime."

•

While Halle managed to escape detection or judgement last night, the same couldn't be said for the next morning. Halle had seen Emily's SOS first thing, the moment she opened her eyes and checked her phone, and — like the others, minus Spencer — they ended up in Emily's bedroom. The swimmer hadn't taken the news of last night well — not at all, really.

Mortified, Emily said, "Wait, you dumped his car in a lake?"

Both Aria and Halle could feel the oncoming lecture. They knew it was stupid, but they did it anyway to keep Hanna's mother out of jail and Hanna close to them. Leant up by the bed railing, Aria craned her back as she listened.

"I panicked," whined Hanna,

"I helped," Halle claimed, hand up to acknowledge her wrong-doing.

Emily narrowed her eyes at her best friends, aiming her harsh words at Aria and Halle. "You're supposed to stop her from doing stupid things like this, not help."

"I tried!" defended Aria strongly.

"Oh, please, you barely squeaked," Halle quipped back, with an eye-roll. "Besides, Hanna wouldn't listen," she said. "Gotta make sure if she's gonna do something stupid she's at least smart about it."

Hanna said, arguing, "I didn't know if I was Wilden or A messing with us, so I just... I— I had to get rid of it."

With a shrug, Aria put in, "Well, my money's on A."

"Ditto," said Halle.

Emily shut that down, "Or Wilden could still be alive and part of the A-team."

Glancing down at the glossy programme within her grasp, Hanna asked Emily, "Okay, so what does this mean?" The group moved along, onto the reason Emily summoned them to hers, and Hanna brandished it up.

IN LOVING MEMORY
TOBY CAVANAUGH

The very thought brought on a nausea Halle couldn't bear. She felt the ugly knot in her stomach tighten and churn, forcing Halle to carry that sickness higher up. She genuinely believed she'd up-chuck when she asked, "Is Toby dead?"

Emily looked to her. Something passed between them as they held each other's gaze, an understanding only them in the room held. It cut them both up, and Emily almost broke down with crippling guilt. "Did I do this? Is this my fault?"

"No, Em," Halle denied, "no."

Aria joined in reassuring Emily. "Don't go there, alright? Because we don't even know if this is true," she said, referring to the programme.

"Yeah, but we do know that Toby was wearing a black hoodie in Spencer's kitchen," argued Emily stubbornly.

"So?" asked Hanna.

"So—" Emily tried to put her overwhelming thoughts into sentences, "either A could have killed him because she knew he was gonna help us..."

"Maybe he was never gonna help us," Aria said abruptly. Her tone grew accusatory, full with the realisation this could be the biggest betrayal in A's game yet. "And for some reason he just wants us to think he's dead."

It sucked the life out the room. Emily crumbled and folded in on herself, eyes off in the distance, while Halle's hand came to her lips to keep back the vomit she felt creeping up her throat.

"Either way," Aria decided, "Spencer needs to know about this."

The question Hanna asked was left to hang in the air, "Where is Spencer?"

•