After the funeral the girls decided to get together at the Apple Rose Grill, they needed to talk about everything that's been going on. Valerie was stressed out with everything that had happened over the course of the past week. With someone named 'A' going after them, Alison's body being found, the funeral, Jenna being back, and especially having to talk to Jason.

"Why was Jenna there?" Aria asked.

"I guess she's back." Spencer shrugged.

"Do you think we looked guilty?" Emily couldn't help but wonder if they'd be in trouble. Though the girls hadn't done anything wrong, Emily always had that mindset.

"Of course not, we didn't do anything wrong." Valerie reasoned with her.

"Except lie about the Jenna thing." Hanna muttered.

"We promised we'd never bring up the Jenna thing again, remember? It never happened." Spencer said, reminding them of the promise they had made to Alison.

"Have you found a way to forget? I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes." Aria told them.

"It was an accident, Aria." Valerie tried to comfort her sister. Aria sent her a half-hearted smile, wondering if she'd ever be able to shake off the guilt.

Valerie watches as Hanna pours something from a flask into her drink, an old couple stare at her judgingly, "It's medicinal." Hanna snarks, the old couple don't say anything, they just stare at her confused, "Cramps!" She shouts. Hanna had never been the bold type, she was typically shy and laid back, but now she was a completely different person.

"I don't get it. How does 'A' know something about me that only Alison knew." Emily thought out loud.

"Ali knew all of our secrets, and we never knew any of hers." Aria shook her head.

"I knew some." Spencer speaks up.

"Go on," Aria urges. Spencer hesitates.

"Talk." Hanna demands.

"I can't..." Spencer mumbles.

"Spencer! No, you are not just gonna drop a major bomb like that and clam up!" Aria whisper shouts.

"She'd so kill me if I told you!" Spencer tries to defend herself.

"Spence, do I really need to remind you whose funeral we just went to?" Valerie said dumbfoundedly.

"Ali was seeing someone that summer." She blurted out.

"I knew she was keeping something from me!" Emily says, but corrects herself when her friends give her confused looks, "From us."

"Well, why didn't she want us to know?" Aria wondered.

"Who was it?" Emily asked.

"She never told me his name," Spencer told them.

"That's only half the secret." Hanna says.

"It's more than you ever got from her." Spencer reasoned.

"How come we just told Alison all of our secrets without hesitating and she never told us anything?" Valerie questioned.

"Because she made us feel like we were a part of something special." Emily explains, her voice soft.

"We were." Hanna said.

"I miss that." Aria said somberly.

"Me too." Valerie agreed.

"I miss Ali." Emily frowned.

Hanna looked down to Emily's wrist to see the purple beaded bracelet on her wrist that had her name on it, "I can't believe you still wear that" Hanna remarked.

"Ali still wears hers," Emily said before cutting herself off, "Wore."

"When Ali didn't come home that night, I knew something terrible must have happened, but there was always some part of me that imagined someday she'd just show up." Spencer professed.

"Yeah, I used to think that maybe she'd just run off with some guy." Aria said.

"She was laying on a beach somewhere." Emily added.

"Or getting a tan out by the pool with that hot lifeguard." Hanna interjected.

"Ohhh, yeah. What was his name again?" Valerie asked.

"Who cares? Save me!" Hanna imitated Alison, making the rest of the girls laugh.

Valerie heard a noise, something tapping against the ground repeatedly. Valerie turned her head and the laughter instantly died down as they saw Jenna Marshall walk through the door. They all looked at each other before gathering their things and parting ways as they left the grill.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

Valerie was out on the soccer field, she was hoping to make the varsity team this year instead of junior varsity, though she would be happy to be on either team. She was passing the ball back and forth with another girl who was trying out, the two were waiting for the official tryouts to actually begin.

"Ladies! Welcome to this year's soccer tryouts, we have three teams: freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity. As you can probably guess only freshmen can make the freshmen team but they can also make junior varsity or varsity as well, however, most freshmen don't make either. The rest of you can make either junior varsity, or varsity. To be able to make the team, you have to be dedicated, hardworking and ambitious. If you're unmotivated and lazy, you won't have any chance of making the team. You have to show me you want this." The coach finished her speech.

Valerie believed she could do this, for herself, and for Alison. Alison was her number one supporter when it came to soccer, she always came to every one of her soccer games with posters and her face painted with Valerie's number on her cheek. Valerie knew she had to make it.

"Alright girls, let's get started." The coach announced.

They started with something basic, all the girls would line up and try to kick the ball into the net, with one girl blocking. Once one girl kicked she had to block next. If you score a goal then you don't have to block.

Valerie had the ball positioned between her feet and she ran. She kicked the ball straight into the net, not even giving the girl who was in goal a chance to block.

"Good work Valerie!" The coach praised. Valerie smiled proudly.

After practice Valerie was exhausted, out of breath, sweaty, and desperately needed something to drink. Her and the girls all sat down on top of the grass, waiting to hear what the coach had to say.

"You girls worked hard out there today, and I'm proud of each and every one of you, however, not all of you will be able to make the team, as you're aware." She began, "I apologize if you don't make the team, but you can always try again next year. So, let's start with our varsity team makers: Danielle Carter, Akira Sato, Miracle Katz..." The coach read off a list of 19 names so far, and so far Valerie hadn't heard hers, she was scared she hadn't made the team. "And for our last varsity player, who has shown she's here to play and win the game, she's highly motivated, hard working and most importantly she shows outstanding leadership qualities." She paused for a minute before saying the name. "Valerie Montgomery, welcome to the team, and congratulations on becoming varsity's first ever junior team captain." She announced.

Valerie's eyes widened with surprise and her smile was huge. Evie saw the looks on some of the girls' faces, some were jealous and some were happy for her. Right now she couldn't bring herself to care about the envy radiating from some of the girls, she knew Alison would be proud of her, and she wished she was here to see her.

After the coach finished announcing the players on the other teams she let them leave, Valerie was about to head back inside the school to grab her things from the locker room when she looked out to the bleachers, she saw his sandy blonde hair blowing from the wind. He was looking down at his hands, clearly deep in thought. Valerie was tempted to pretend she hadn't seen him and just walk the other way, but she couldn't. She sighed, walking over to the bleachers to talk to him.

"Hey." She panted out, still clearly out of breath. Jason looked up to her, seeing her messy hair that was sticking to her forehead from sweating.

"Hey." He said back.

"I didn't think you'd still be here." She told him.

"I didn't either." He said.

"So, why are you?" She asked curiously.

He looked back down at his hands, he didn't know if he should answer her honestly or just play it off. He sighed, "I needed to see you," he confessed.

Now it was Valerie's turn to look down at her hands, "Why?" She mumbled.

"To apologize." He explained, "When Alison went missing... I abandoned you, I shut you out, and when we did see each other, I treated you horribly. Then me and my family left and I didn't even tell you, all I did was send you a text saying we need to break up."

Valerie sat down next to him, looking into his beautiful green eyes. Even though his eyes weren't the color of the ocean, she still found herself drowning in them. "Jason, I don't blame you for what happened. I mean, I'm not going to say it didn't hurt because it definitely hurt, but I don't blame you. I know you were struggling." She spoke softly.

He looked at her so lovingly, god she missed that look so much. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her and show her how much he missed her, but he couldn't stay and they both knew that.

"When are you leaving?" She hesitated to ask him.

"Tomorrow afternoon. My family only came back here for the funeral and I'm pretty sure I've overstayed my welcome in this town." He explained.

She wanted so badly to say that she wanted him to stay, but she knew she didn't have a say in that anymore.

"Oh." She said, her voice quiet. Valerie was sitting with her hands folded in her lap and she was looking out to the soccer field. After everything that happened between them, she hadn't expected herself to be sad he was leaving again, but she was. 

Jason sighed, "When I left, I was in such a bad place. I didn't realize how hard it would be without you until you weren't there anymore. You were the only good thing I had in my life then. You made me realize I didn't need the drugs and alcohol to be able to wake up every morning," he confessed. 

Valerie looked at him in shock, this was all news to her, she had no idea he had felt this strongly about her, "I'm sorry that you had to deal with that part of me, you knew firsthand how I got when ever I was drunk or high. I shouldn't of done that to you. I don't know why you even stayed with me through all of that. I'm clean now though, it's almost been a year now." He couldn't help but apologize for every past mistake he'd made.

She couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms around him, he hesitated for a moment before hugging her back, "I'm so proud of you Jason." She said softly. He felt himself melt into her embrace, it felt so good to hear someone say that they were proud of him. He never heard it from his parents growing up. Not even when he had been almost a year clean. 

"I miss you Val." He spoke.

"I miss you too Jase." She said.

 They stayed in the hug for a while, just enjoying each others company before he had to leave. She didn't know if she'd ever see him again after this, but she could absolutely pray.

Jason pulled away first, his hands trailed from her back to her face. He stared straight into her eyes, admiring the soft look they gave. He rested his forehead against hers.

"Just one more time..." He pleaded. 

"Okay." She said, giving him permission.

He kissed her softly, softer than he ever had before. She tangled her hands in his hair, deepening the kiss. She wished she could stay like this with him forever, she never wanted to let him go. He wished it wasn't so hard for him to stay in this town, he wanted nothing more than to never have to let her go again.

She pulled away from him and looking straight into his eyes, "Jason, I stayed because I knew you were worth it. Because through all of that you're the only person who I've ever felt anything for. I never wanted anyone the way I want you." She confessed.

"Want?" He asked, noticing her use of the present tense.

"I could never feel the way I feel about you with anyone else." She professed.

"You make it impossible to leave, you know that?" He told her.

Valerie smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her, "Then don't." She said. For a while the two sat in silence, just enjoying the time they had left.

"Where are you staying?" She asked him.

"My family has an apartment in in Philly." He told her.

"You drove all this way just to see me?" She looked up at him with those same soft eyes she always had around him.

"Only for you." He expressed. Jason's phone starting going off, as he looked to the screen he sighed, "Val, I gotta go."

She frowned, "Okay." She murmured.

Jason took her face in his hands and kissed her long and softly, "I hate having to leave you. I'm sorry I'm doing this to you again, I know it was selfish to come to you like this."

"It's okay, I'm glad you did." She said.

Valerie watched him walk away, she sighed before getting up and turning around. She froze in place when she saw Aria standing at the end of the bleachers.

"I tried calling you." She mumbled, shock clearly written all over her face.

The car ride home was silent. Aria hadn't said a single word to her sister the whole time. She was clearly still trying to process what she just saw as she had taken three wrong turns.

Once they made it home they sat in the driveway for about five minutes before Aria said something, "Are you crazy Valerie? Jason. Jason DiLaurentis. Alison's brother! Oh my god, I can't believe you would hook up with him right after her funeral. Were you waiting for her to-" Aria rambled on and on before Valerie cut her off.

"No! I was not waiting for her to die, jeez! Just listen, okay?" Valerie sighed before continuing, "Last summer... me and Jason had a thing. I mean you guys knew I was crazy about Jason ever since I saw him." Valerie explained.

"Yeah, but we never thought he'd be crazy about you." Aria said, "And I mean, not that he couldn't like somebody like you, I just meant he's an older guy and not to mention Alison's brother."

"No, I know what you mean." Valerie said.

"God, my head hurts. Let's just go inside and eat and you can explain everything to me later." Aria told her before getting out of the car and walking up to the house.

The next day at school Valerie tried her best to avoid Aria, she really didn't want to talk about Jason or anything that had happened.

Valerie was walking with Hanna during passing time, though she wasn't saying much as she was lost in thought, "Okay, what's the deal?" Hanna asked.

"What?" Valerie said, snapping out of her trance.

"You've barely said anything to me this whole time and when I try to talk to you all you respond with is 'mhm' and 'yeah'." Hanna explained.

"I just-" She began, but was cut off by the announcements going off.

"Will the following students please come to the office: Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, Valerie Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin."

Just as the announcement went off, Hanna and Valerie ran into the rest of the girls.

The girl's phones went off, "Wait. It's from A." Aria announced.

"Dead girls walking," Hanna read from her phone screen.

The girls were in the office, getting questioned by none other than Detective Wilden.

"So, let's see. You thought you heard her scream?" He directed his question to Spencer.

"I-I said that, yeah." Spencer stammered.

"And when you four woke up in the barn, Alison was gone and so was Spencer." He restated.

"Yes, I woke up before them and I realized Ali was missing so-"

"So you went looking for her." Detective Wilden cut her off.

"That's what happened." Spencer said.

"I got that," he said, almost like he didn't believe her, "So, what's up? Was this a slumber party, or...?" He questioned the girls.

"Is this an interrogation?" Valerie sneered, "Cause the last time I checked you weren't allowed to question us without our parents present."

"No, just a routine follow up. Why did you guys all fall asleep?" He interrogated the girls.

"I guess we were tired." Aria responded.

"Tired? Really. Is that how you remember it, Hanna?" Wilden inquired.

"Yeah." She replied dryly.

"Yeah, you guys were tired." He spoke doubtfully.

"Yes, tired. Do we need to spell it out for you?" Valerie snapped at him, growing tired of his stupid questions.

Wilden looked at her with a glare, "Look, we've told you everything we know, just like the night she went missing." Spencer interjected.

"I know, and you see, the thing is, it's almost exactly like what you said last year, almost like it was rehearsed." He accused.

"Yeah, that's kind of the point. It's not like the way things happened magically changed over the past year." Valerie scoffed at his stupidity.

"Like Spencer said, we've told you everything we know." Aria spoke up, ending the interrogation.

"He knows we're lying." Aria stated as the girls were sitting at a table in the cafeteria.

"Lying is not a crime," Hanna said.

"It is when you're giving false statements to the police." Valerie asserted.

"Yeah, it's called obstruction of justice." Spencer agreed.

"Oh, please! We lied about drinking. But the truth that matters is we don't know anything about what happened to Ali that night." Hanna sputtered.

"We also know about someone who might've wanted to hurt her," Spencer added.

"We should've told the police the truth about Jenna's accident the night it happened," Emily stressed.

"I wanted to, remember?" Hanna argued.

"We had a chance to do more than just tell the truth. We had a chance to stop Ali." Aria said.

"But we didn't, and telling the police isn't going to make her magically see again. We'll just screw ourselves over." Valerie stated.

The sound of a cane tapping on the floor made Valerie turn her head quickly, she let out an exasperated breath.

"Oh my god, she's back in school too?" Hanna watches as Jenna walks into the cafeteria with her lunch tray.

Aria got up from the table and walked over to Jenna, "What the hell is she doing?" Valerie questioned. Aria and Jenna walked over to the lunch table and Valerie made a face at her.

"So you're gonna be between Hanna and Emily and Spencer and Valerie are right across from you." She spoke to the blind girl.

"Thank you," Jenna said.

"Yeah, and here's a chair." Aria pulled a chair from an empty table and helped Jenna sit down.

"So, this would be Alison's chair right?" Jenna asked with a small smile on her face. Valerie didn't like it, not one bit.

"No, we're not even sitting at that table," Emily told her.

"You know, she came to visit me in the hospital after the accident," Jenna confessed, making Valerie look up from her food tray.

"Alison did?" Spencer asked.

"Mhm, everyone misunderstood Alison, but I knew exactly who she was," Jenna said in a tone that made the girls uncomfortable.

"When did you get back, Jenna? We heard you were in Philadelphia, a school for the..." Spencer hesitated, "Visually impaired."

"You can say blind Spencer. It's okay, it's not a dirty word." Spencer chuckled dryly and the table fell silent.

"It's so quiet. You guys used to be the fun table. What happened to you girls?" Jenna joked.

                                                                                                                                                                       SUMMER, 2009

The girls were all in Alison's bedroom trying on clothes. Valerie slipped on a cute black top that had a floral pattern all over it. She put on a mini jean skirt that fit her tightly, she loved the way it made her look.

"That's hot V, "Alison said, sending her a wink. Valerie smiled as she looked in the mirror, flipping her purple-striped hair behind her shoulder.

"I have to use the bathroom, I'll be right back," Valerie said, exiting Alison's bedroom. The sound of faint laughter could be heard as she closed the door behind her.

Valerie walked down to the bathroom down the hall, she practically knew the DiLaurentis house like the back of her hand, she and the rest of the girls had been at the house plenty of times. Valerie made her way to the bathroom, noticing a door slightly ajar. She was curious, she'd never actually been inside every room inside the house. She peeked somewhat into the room and was startled when someone opened the door completely.

He looked down at her suspiciously, "Ali sending her minions to spy on me now?" He questioned her.

Valerie couldn't help but notice he was shirtless, she also couldn't but notice his abs and toned chest. She looked up at him, feeling intimidated by his strong gaze.

"No," She stammered, "I just- sorry." She apologized nervously. Her reaction made him smirk.

"So, then what were you doing, hm?" He asked.

"I was looking for the bathroom." She finally managed to come up with a lie. Usually she was a better liar, but something about him threw her off her game.

"Uh-huh." He said.

He leaned his arm against the door frame, towering over her, "What's up with the purple?" He asked, referring to her colored hair.

"What?" She asked, confused. He took a strand of her hair between his fingers and twirled it around.

"Oh.." She realized, "Uhm, I don't know. It's just something me and my sister did I guess. When your parents tell you to be yourself but you don't really know who you are yet, you kind of get stuck with something like this." She explained.

Jason couldn't help but empathize with the girl in front of him, he didn't know who he was yet either, he figured he should've figured it out by now but he was so lost in alcohol and drugs.

Valerie felt the warmth radiating from his body, it sent nervous chills throughout her body. She couldn't stop herself from looking down at his shirtless figure, which didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Something catch your eye?" He asked smugly, with a smirk plastered on his face. She looked back up at him, a faint blush covering her cheeks.

"Alison's waiting for me, I should probably go." She told him.

"Yeah." He agreed.

Valerie sent him a small smile before turning around and walking back towards Alison's bedroom, "Oh and Val." He called out to her. She turned around to see him looking slightly downward, "Cute skirt." He complimented, making her flustered.

"Thanks." She said softly. Valerie stopped in her tracks and turned back around, Jason had gone back into his room and closed the door this time. She hadn't realized until now, that he remembered her name.

"God, Valerie. What the hell took you so long?" Alison snapped at her friend.

"Sorry Ali, Jeez. What's the big issue?" Valerie asked, confused.

"Sorry, but I am so freaked right now," Alison muttered, covering her chest with her arms. All the other girls look just as uncomfortable as she did.

"Okay, did I miss something?" She asked.

"That freak Toby Cavanaugh was spying on us while we were changing," Alison told her.

"What?" Valerie said.

"Come on girls," Alison demanded as she trailed out of her room. The girls all looked at each other uncomfortably before walking out of the room.

The girls had walked over to the Cavanaugh house, they were currently standing in front of Toby's garage, wondering if they were making a mistake. Valerie couldn't deny that she had been in her fair share of trouble, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to go this far.

"Are we sure he's not in there?" Aria stressed.

"He's not, okay? You've got the lighter, right, Spencer?" Alison asked.

"Let's wait a second." Emily began to freak out.

"What, Emily?" Alison sneered.

"I don't want to do this." She said.

"Fine. Go back. You're on your own then." Alison argued.

"Okay, maybe Emily's right. We should just call the cops, they'll take care of it." Aria suggested.

"Where's the fun in that? Girls, Toby Cavanaugh is a freak, and we need to teach him a lesson. If he thinks he can come and spy on us while we're in my bedroom he needs to know that his little domain Is no longer a safe little hideout. Who knows what he does in there all day, that little freak." Alison sputtered, with an evil look on her face.

"Are you sure that it was Toby?" Valerie asked.

"Yes!" She shouted, "And it's a stink bomb for God's sake, we're not nuking the place. Now, let's do it. Give me the lighter." She snatched the lighter from Spencer's hand and lit the stink bomb, throwing it into the shed.

The girls run down the driveway, Valerie trips when an explosion goes off from behind them. Valerie looks back and covers her mouth when she sees the shed on fire.

"Oh my god." She murmurs, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Ali, what did you do?" Spencer freaks out.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Alison says and helps Valerie off the ground.

FLASHBACK ENDS

All at once, the girl's phones go off, they don't even have to look to know who it's from.

"Aren't you gonna get that?" Jenna asks, picking up Aria's phone and handing it to her.

'If only she could see how guilty you all look. -A'

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

Valerie sighed, Jason had left and she didn't know if she'd ever see him again. Their relationship had been complicated but it was all worth it to her. She lay in bed reading her copy of Romeo and Juliet. It always made her think of him.

"Hey." A voice called from the door. Valerie looked up to see her father standing in the doorway.

"Hi." She mumbled.

Byron sighed, "Valerie look I know it's tough being back here with all these memories and I know it brings up a lot of things that happened in the past-"

"You mean how you cheated on mom?" Valerie sneered, not even bothering to look up from her book.

He stepped into the room, "I made a mistake, one I know I can't take back. I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Would mom?" She asks, finally looking up.

"I don't know." He confesses.

"Then neither do I." She looks back down to her book, not giving her father a second glance.

"At least come eat dinner." He says before exiting her room.

Valerie sighs and closes her book, she walks downstairs to see Aria sopping wet from the rain.

"What happened to you?" She said sarcastically.

"Don't ask." Aria smiled back.

"You look like a soggy raccoon." Valerie jokes. Aria tilts her head to the side and gives her a look.

"Let's eat," Ella says, enthusiastically.