•

"Blind Dates"

"So you hit her?"

Halle rolled her eyes; of course that was the part they were stuck on. On Spencer's advice, Halle told the others about her fight with Alison. It personally wasn't something she wanted to do, but it was needed. Even if it meant swallowing the judging looks and disapproving words aimed directly at her. So, in the middle of a shady alleyway, outside of the pawn shop Spencer took her sister's ring to, with sirens in distance, Halle told them the truth — and the lie— she confessed to Spencer and took the backlash.

"Is it really that much of a surprise?" Halle asked Aria, who questioned the slap, sighing. "I fight with fists, not words."

"But Jason?" Hanna questioned. She blinked several times, taking in the new information, which only baffled her further. "You and Jason? But he's Alison's brother."

"That was the point," Halle explained. "I wanted to hurt her."

"So, you went after Jason?" Aria asked.

"I know it was stupid, but at the time, in my head, it made sense," Halle tried to reason. "Jason was always off-limits when it came to Alison, I thought it was the best way to get under her skin." As she said it aloud, she realised how dumb it was. Halle played with a real person — a person Halle started to really care for. Her worst mistake was hurting Jason, and she had been living with it eating away at her since.

"But you and Ali fought before they went to Cape May," Emily said, speaking up at last. She was the quietest of the three. "Why didn't you end it with Jason after you and Ali fought?"

"I tried," Halle admitted. "I wrote him a letter, planning on ending the whole thing, apologising for everything, and I sent it to him in Cape May, but...it didn't end," said Halle truthfully. "We carried on seeing each other That Summer. Just getting high and hanging out. I liked Jason, he was nice to me."

"Because he got you topless on video," Hanna fired out dryly.

"He's not like that," Halle defended fiercely.

"Why are you defending him?" Emily asked.

"He's just like Ian," Aria stated.

"First, Jason is nothing like Ian," Halle stressed deeply. "And second, I have to defend him, I played him. I was the bad person in this, not Jason, not even Alison. Me— I was the one in the wrong," Halle claimed it all. "If you need someone to blame, blame me. Don't put that on Jason."

Emily read her best friend better than anyone. She noted the strong and wilful determination on Halle's face and knew it was forced over the softness the cheerleader pretended she didn't have. Emily knew there was more from a single look. "Did you care about him?" she asked, stunning the the two. Still, Emily asked the question directly to Halle, eyes watching her intently for any reaction, big or small. "Do you care about Jason?"

The hesitation was subconscious. It was a question Halle had asked herself countless times, it gnawing away at the back of her mind ever since A's first text in that church. The time before That Summer, Halle wouldn't have even spared a second; Jason meant nothing to her back then. Yet, That Summer she spent by his side had changed it all.

"Halle, it's an easy answer," Aria said strongly, eyes boring into her.

"It's not easy for me," Halle gave truthfully, a painful tug in her chest as she did so.

"Why?" Hanna instantly asked, demanding.

"Because I was the cause of all that drama," Halle told them. "I played him, and I can't ever shake that guilt. I just wanna make up for that, which means he's gotta mean something, right?" Halle nervously dipped her tongue out to wet her bottom lip, anxious over her friends' quietness. "I never meant for it to get as far as it did. I wanted to get back at her, to stop her from walking all over me." Halle then explained, "And I only hit Ali because of what she said. I couldn't stand being one of her dolls anymore, and I couldn't hear her talk about you guys like you were the same. It might have taken you guys A to realise how much control Ali had over us, but I figured it out That Summer."

"And she spent the rest of it trying to find a way to tear you down," Emily realised.

"Then she found the video," Aria stated.

"And I tore myself down for her," Halle added flatly.

"God," Hanna groaned, "we really let her almost destroy us."

"But we're still here — together," offered Halle, with a small smile.

The girls seemed to understand. None of them said anything else if they did. No one mentioned it again and instead, they went about the alleyway, keeping an eye on the pawn shop door. When their backs were turned, Halle's phone gave a little chime. Pulling it out of her back pocket, Halle flipped the screen up to find a new message from their number one enemy.

YOU CAN WATER DOWN THE TRUTH LIKE YOU DO YOUR DRINKS, HAL.
BUT HERE IS FRIENDLY REMINDER FROM ME TO YOU, I KNOW EVERYTHING.
--A.

Halle slammed the screen down and quickly shoved in back into her pocket. How could A have know what she said? How did A know anything she was saying? Halle tried her best to look less panicked over the text, but she hadn't counted on Hanna watching her.

"Everything okay?" Hanna asked, peering over after the ding of Halle's cellphone. It was obvious the group were paranoid, constant churning over A being behind every message.

"Yeah," Halle said. She shook her head, putting on a smile. "Just my mom."

Shifting around awkwardly, Aria put in, "This place is skeevy."

"She pawned her sister's wedding ring," Hanna said bluntly, "you're not gonna go to Tiffany's."

"So... Wren and Melissa?" Emily asked, catching up on last night.

Halle was extremely grateful the conversation could move on past her summer with Jason; she'd have to thank Spencer for that later.

Hanna gave a nod. "Weird, right?"

"Could you tell what he gave her?" Emily asked.

"No," Aria said, shaking her head. "She didn't seem happy about it."

"I wonder if Ian will be," commented Hanna.

"How're you holding up?" Halle asked Emily, referring to A's latest meddling.

"Great," Emily replied, thought her voice and body said different. She was tense, quiet. "Ever since I got that fake scholarship letter, my mom thinks I can do no wrong. I'm living a lie I didn't even tell."

"Leave it to A to make you feel bad about your mom feeling good," Hanna said.

Hearing the bell on the pawn shop, the girls turned to see Spencer stalk out in a temperamental rage. She tried to appear cool as she walked over to her friends, but Spencer was obviously seething. Something had gone terribly wrong.

"I can't believe that it's gone," exclaimed Spencer, rightfully annoyed. Melissa's ring had been swapped. It was sold, and Spencer could do little about it; she did pawn her sister's ring without consent.

"At least you got your money back," Hanna offered unhelpfully.

Spencer held up the iron horseshoe clutched in her hand and shot, "Am I supposed to give her this? I stole it," Spencer said, in dry and panicked disbelief. "I actually stole my sister's wedding ring!"

When it had finally settled in, their phones all chimed, alerting them to A. The look on all their faces told a story of defeated — the fear of A haunted their lives. It was Aria who read it aloud, sighing heavily. "'Just my luck. Diamonds are a girl's best friend. A.'"

Flooding their senses with extreme paranoia, the girls got a overwhelming feeling that someone was watching; Halle more than anyone. As they looked around, their eyes met with an optician's billboard, they couldn't help but apply the words to themselves.

SOMEONE'S WATCHING YOU
SO LOOK YOUR BEST...

•

After being caught out at school by Ella Montgomery earlier — the girls had been together when they shouldn't have — Halle was slightly surprised when Aria approached her so forwardly. In plain view of everyone passing by, Aria turned up at Halle's locker just after lunch and asked for Halle's help, which Halle couldn't refuse. After the last bell rang, signalling the end of the day, the two were to meet up outside. Spotting Aria coming down the steps with her cellphone in hand, ready to text the cheerleader, Halle honked her car-horn at her.

Aria jumped, startled. "Are you crazy?"

Halle rolled down the passenger window and said, "Get in, Loser!"

Aria gave a chuckle as she came over, trying her best to hide from onlookers now staring at her because of Halle's outburst. She got in the car as fast as she could, shutting the door with a dull bang. She turned to see Halle looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"How Regina George am I?" Halle said, smiling broadly. She then flicked the Shrek bobble-head placed on her dashboard, feeling rather proud of herself. "I look good in the driver's seat, right? It suits me, don't you think?"

"I knew I should have asked Spencer," Aria said, beginning to regret Halle as her choice.

"Hey, you chose me because I just passed and your mom doesn't know that yet. And I'm a great driver," emphasized Halle. She gave a shrug and added plausibly, "I wouldn't have passed if I wasn't."

"When did you pass again?" asked Aria.

The clutch gave a crunching sound when Halle attempted to put it in first. Halle cringed, "Ugh, hate when that happens— Oh, I passed yesterday."

"It happens a lot?" Aria asked, gulping.

Halle chose to ignore the question. Instead, Halle faced Aria, her feet held in the 'bite' position on the pedals, ready to pull out of the parking space. "Seat-belt," she reminded.

Nodding, Aria grabbed the seat-belt and pulled it across her body eagerly, clicking it into the slot. "Okay, you can go," she said through a clenched jaw, gripping onto the seat so tight her knuckles went white.

The journey wasn't long. It only took them roughly ten minutes to get across town to the local park. Aria, still holding onto the seat for dear-life — the handle above the door being her best friend when in the car with Halle — spotted a free space. "Hey, there! There— there, there!"

When they parked up and the car stopped, Halle shot her friend a proud grin. "I'm good, right?"

Aria looked to her, wide-eyed. "Amber means slow down, Hal," she said plainly.

Halle dead-panned, narrowing her eyes a little. "We got here, didn't we? And neither of us are dead, that's good in my opinion."

"I don't think marking it on the fact we're not dead counts for your driving skills," Aria shot

"How about next time I push you out, I'd like to see you mark that then," Halle countered snarkily.

Sighing, Aria said, "Let's just find Mike and give him his keys, so we can get out of here." They both climbed out of the car, shutting the doors behind them. "Split up? You take the back courts, I'll take the front ones. Meet in the middle?" Aria suggested.

Halle nodded. "Sounds good."

They both went off in opposite directions. Halle headed for the bottom gates. There, she went to the basketball courts and slowly made her way to the meeting-spot, scanning faces for Mike Montgomery. If Halle did find him, she wasn't exactly sure what to do or how to keep him there. Aria had the keys, so Halle was practically hopeless in any situation, and it wasn't long before boredom hit her and her attention entirely shifted.

Though, that wasn't all her fault.

A basketball came rolling towards her, hitting her foot. Halle bent down and picked it up. When she looked up, her eyes locked onto Jason. Her tongue briefly came out to dampen her lips. Her throat went dry on seeing him jogging towards her. Halle wasn't used to seeing him around again, so seeing him now — heading straight for her, without a shirt on — Halle didn't think anyone could blame her.

A sense of nervousness rushed over her body in a warm flush as Halle remembered the happy thoughts of that summer that still danced around her mind. She had such vivid memories of their time together. Her cheeks were burning up, and Halle started to worry if how Jason affected her was visible at all. She was never the type to act that way because of a guy. Then again, she had never had someone treat her the way Jason did.

"H—hey," Halle choked on her greeting, coughing a little to try hide it after. She wanted him to see her unbothered by him. She never wanted anyone to know the truth about how she felt. Halle was secretive and closed-off, unsentimental and hard to to read. Jason threw all that into the wind, but she couldn't be seen accidentally stumbling.

Jason was relaxed, though. Calm and present, like he always was. He was confident in who he was, even if he came off a little intense. Halle wasn't sure if she had ever seen Jason once get flustered or nervous, or choke on his words. He always knew exactly what to say and he always enjoyed making her blush the way she did for him. In the summer, Jason fooled himself into believing only he could make Halle flustered. That turned out to be a fantasy of his, shattered when Halle told Jason she was playing with him.

"Hey," Jason said, and he accepted the ball from her. "How've you been?" he asked, having not seen her since that night outside of her house, with her being secretive of a medicine bag.

"Good — yeah, good," Halle answered, rambling. She nodded her head far too many times for her to look somewhat normal. She was doing a terrible job of remaining indifferent around him. "You?" she asked after she abruptly stopped her excessive nodding.

"Settling in again. Still not completely used to being back," he said. "And then there's the stares," Jason mentioned honestly, "I'm not used to them either."

"Yeah, those you don't," Halle returned sadly. "People round here don't ever change. They ain't ever gonna let us be more than the people who lost Alison."

A strange thing Halle started to notice in her own life was the more time that passed, the greater distance there was between her and Alison. Halle had stopped thinking of Alison as her best friend and more of an enemy, and in turn, stopped lovingly referring to her Ali.

"Halle—"

Sensing he was about to say something personal, Halle cut him off. "Have you seen Aria's brother? Mike?" she asked. Halle glanced around briefly, trying not to make eye-contact with Jason's face or his bare chest. She mentioned, "He's supposed to be here."

"Uh, no, sorry." Jason shook his head, deterred for the time being. "What, he give her the slip?" he asked.

"Not sure," Halle said, with a shrug.

"Yeah, I was always lying about where I was when I was his age," Jason told her.

"And older," added Halle.

Jason nodded, he deserved that one. Settling on telling Halle some of his truth, Jason said, "I don't remember a lot about that time, actually. Most of what I do remember, I wish I could forget, you know?"

Halle nodded, understanding. "Yeah, I do."

After lying to her parents, Halle had spent the day with Jason. Parked out by Wright's park again — a regular smoking spot for the two — Halle and Jason kept to his car; the snacks and drinks, from their day aimlessly driving around town to find empty parking lots to smoke a joint in, spread across the back-seat along with her forgotten cardigan.

In her euphoric state, Halle's head and heart felt a lot lighter. She felt carefree. Weightless, Halle was sure she was floating. The view of the town below did nothing to discredit her thoughts. When she was high up and high, Halle forgot everything that was going on at home or the rattling in her head. Intoxicated, there were no zooming thoughts.

Halle was a god.

Dancing in her seat to the song playing on in the car's CD player, Halle sang aloud, throwing her arms out. She was grateful that Jason has a convertible, where she could thrash her arms around and relish in the feeling of wind in her hair. The lyrics of some band Jason liked to listen to poured out of her. His likes were becoming hers. She was sharing more with Jason than she had done with most, willingly and without question. Halle didn't even pause to think if it was too much — if she was investing a lot. With him, Halle felt it didn't matter. She figured spending this much time with him already gave too much of herself away for her to be concerned about opening up now.

As the song faded out, Halle turned to Jason and asked, "You got anything else?"

Jason looked down to the glove-box. "My CDs are in there, don't think you'll find something you like, Brewster."

The glove-box clicked as Halle opened it. She found exactly what she was looking for: a small rack of CDs stacked on top of each other. She grabbed the lot, flicking through them. Jason tried his best not to cringed at the sound of plastic cases bashing together. Suddenly, on seeing the familiar yellow writing of 'WHO ARE YOU', Halle let out an excited screech.

"You have The Who!"

Jason pulled his brows together, questioning her reaction even in his hazy state. "Of course I do. How do you know The Who?"

Giddy, Halle sprang forward in her seat. She was eager to get the current CD out, so she could put this one in. "My dad is obsessed with The Who, he thinks Roger Daltrey is a genius. This is by far their best album." Halle shook her head in pure disbelief, now beaming brightly. "I can't believe you listen to The Who."

"I can't believe you listen to them," Jason made a point to emphasize.

Halle smiled at him, over her shoulder, as she slotted the CD in. "No need to act so surprised, I'm half white," she commented, causing him to laugh.

"Oh, like you were surprised just now?" he shot back at her playfully. Jason saw Halle roll her eyes at him, and he added, "You not it's true."

A bright smile came across her face as the immediate upbeat guitar and full song kicked in on the first track. Her eyes flickered to a close, taking in the music. "I love that you have this album," Halle shared openly, before she started jamming out, singing along softly with the heavy voice coming out of the car speakers.

"#Whenever I see you, you always treat me like I'm some kind of perfect man...#" Halle sang aloud, pulling her arms, hands in tight fists, into her chest as she pushed out the words.

Jason was staring at her, in complete bewilderment. The girl beside him in his car, singing her heart out with a strong passion, was nothing like he had ever imagined. She wasn't the girl that Alison had him believe she was. Halle wasn't even the girl she would have others believe she was. Unashamed and wild, Halle was entirely free when she was in that seat next to Jason.

He looked at her in pleasant surprise and said sincerely, "You know, you've got a good voice."

Halle let a nervous chuckle, casting her eyes to her lap, which she suddenly found interesting. "Uh..."

"No, seriously, you should hear yourself," Jason said kindly. "You're really good. You've ever thought about doing something about it?"

Snapping her head up to meet his honest eyes, Halle said, "You're a joke."

"I'm being serious right now," Jason insisted. "Why don't you do anything about it?"

She put on a smile, settling back in the seat, head rested against it as she looked at him. "My place is the shower, and I know everyone sings in the shower, but that is the spot for me!" she exclaimed brightly. She told him, "I never sound better." Seeing his stare was still on her, Halle swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and gave genuinely the answer he wanted. "I'm scared," she said. "I can hide behind my fists, but I can't with that... I like being my own worst critic. I don't want anyone else being that for me."

"For what it's worth, I think something great only happens if you're at the end of your comfort zone," Jason advised.

When her eyes locked onto his again, Halle could have sworn her heart flipped over in her chest. She had never heard something so beautiful before. Jason was honest with her in that moment, and Halle chose to met him in that honesty, smiling as her hand reached out and took his.

Halle remembered the Jason from that night. She remembered how her heart gave out in a reckless way. She was out of her depth — so out of control — that it was infuriating and exciting all at once. She was helpless in any moment with him because with each second spent with him, Halle was scared she was becoming completely dependent on the foreign feeling of being seen for who she truly was. The honesty was intoxicating.

It still was.

"You know what I do remember? Driving around to The Who in my car," Jason recalled sweetly. "And then there was your pink hair," he said, smiling after.

"You remember that?" Halle asked, pleasantly surprised by his confession.

"You did it for Aria and then kept it to annoy your mom." Jason said with a chuckle, "I still remember your mom screaming when she saw it for the first time."

"I think the whole neighbourhood does," Halle joked.

Jason laughed with her. He mentioned, "And she made you pin it back for picture day, right?"

"Right," Halle said, agreeing. "She was lucky it was only the undercut."

All the while Halle smiled through him remembering her aloud. The girl hadn't realised how much she needed to hear it — to have it realised verbally. It reassured her she wasn't the only one still agonising over that summer and what could have been. Halle thought Jason brought up their past to get answers — for closure — but she finally understood, hearing him speak life into the two lovers from That Summer, that it was always more than that.

"I thought it was cool," Jason admitted. "I was guilty of just thinking you were that good girl that got in fights because of Ali, but you're definitely not that. You always were rebellious. Me?" Jason shook his head and said, "I tried. I couldn't do the unexpected, as opposed to you. You kept on surprising me, which I also thought was cool," he added after, smiling a little.

"Well, turns out I'm not really rebellious, just mentally imbalanced," Halle returned. She felt compelled to stop his confession with a light-hearted joke. Halle didn't like the constant flow of the sweet compliments he gave to her. A part of her didn't believe them. Not Jason saying them; she trusted Jason more than most. Just, Halle wasn't much for compliments. She didn't believe them; she thought she was being lied to — a fear Alison gave her.

"Can we talk sometime?" Jason asked her seriously. "Like, really talk — about everything."

"Everything?" she asked.

"About That Night," he clarified. "What you said that night."

As Halle went to make up an excuse — give another lie — but Aria gained perfect timing and interrupted the two. "Halle!" Aria shouted. Halle glanced around to see Aria stood half a court away, arm in the air while she signalled for her to come over. "He's not here. Let's go!"

Halle turned back around, offering up an apologetic smile along with a shrug. "Sorry, I—"

"You have to go, I understand," Jason said, nodding. He motioned back to his basketball court; the game paused because he had a hold of the ball. "Well, uh..." Jason didn't want to lie about needing to get back — he didn't need to. He liked talking to Halle; he always had once he got to know the real her. Yet, Jason settled on letting her go. It was something he had experience in doing before. "See you around, Brewster."

Quickly, after parting to make his way back to the court he was playing on, Jason got the urge to turn back around. He found Halle had begun to walk to her friend when he decided he had something else he needed to say. "Hey," he called out to her. Jason watched as Halle span around to face him, questioning him with quirked-up eyebrows. "I miss the girl from That Summer."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Halle met his smile with one of her own. She bit back her large grin, wondering how he got so good with words. Jason always knew exactly what to say. He never failed to make her blush — to make her knees buckle like she remembered them doing right after she first kissed him.

"Bet you do," she called back playfully, shooting him another smile across the court. Halle span around, jogging a little catch up with her friend, biting her lip when she thought about Jason. The affect he still had was astronomical.

Jason DiLaurentis still had a part of Halle no one else did, or ever could.

•

Annoyingly for Halle, her encounter with Jason hadn't escaped her yet. She kept thinking about the sincerity in his voice — the truth laced within his words. She talked about the girl she was that summer like he was breathing life back into the person he wanted her to be, the person she was when she was alone with him. It reminded Halle that not everything was a lie like she had told him the night Alison died.

Maybe Halle had this gut-wrenching guilt because the one she was lying to the best was herself.

That thought haunted her for the rest of the day. It even affected her date night with Eric. Halle couldn't stand being around Eric. Every time he touched her, she wanted to pull away. His voice grated on her, and she was absent from all he wanted her to take interest in. Halle was the room, but she wasn't there.

"Are you gonna come and visit me this weekend? It'll do you good to familiarise yourself with campus," Eric mentioned. His suggestion was kind enough, but Halle found it tedious.

"Err, I think I'm busy," Halle said, disinterested.

"What about next weekend?" asked Eric. He started eyeing his girlfriend from where they were sitting. On the sofa on the cabin's game-room, a film played on his laptop, but neither were watching it. Halle was pulling at the thread from where her jeans ripped in the thigh-leg, not even bothering to look up.

"Hmm," she hummed.

Nothing else past Halle's lips, and that made the room even more tense than before. It got to a point for Eric where he just snapped. He leant forward and paused the movie, not that Halle noticed, and he looked back at her.

"Okay — what is going on?" Eric asked her, a sense of impatience running at the forefront.

This time, Halle actually looked up. "Nothing. Why?"

"Because you've been distracted all night," Eric claimed.

"Sorry, I just... I'm bored with the movie," said Halle, as an excuse.

"I put The Goonies on because it's your favourite," Eric argued.

Halle fought the urge to roll her eyes. She really hadn't told him anything about her — nothing real in case it ever backfired. Halle didn't get too close to people, even her own boyfriend. She sighed and replied, "I know you did, thanks. Let's just try and enjoy the rest of the night, you can pick the next movie." Halle hoped it was enough because she didn't feel like giving more.

Eric didn't have time to respond before Halle's phone went off. She snatched it up from where it lay next to her on the couch and her eyes darted down to the screen.

SOS.
From: Spencer

"I gotta go," Halle said immediately after. She shot up off the couch and began collecting up her things. She was in such a rush, she hadn't even noticed the dumbstruck look on her boyfriend's face.

"You're kidding, right?" Eric asked.

"No," Halle answered simply. She glanced up at Eric, checking on him, and saw his jaw was clenched in annoyance. Halle couldn't help the scoff that left her. "I gotta be somewhere, you left our last date and I understood."

"Because it was work. What, is that The Grille texting asking you to work?" he shot at her disrespectfully.

"Boy, you better stop moving your lips because I know you ain't about to crap on my job," snapped Halle. "Just because you have an office job and I'm a waitress, does not mean that my job is less important. It's a job either freaking way."

It was Eric that scoffed that time.

"Oh, you're an asshole — and I'm leaving," Halle said bluntly. "I ain't dealing with this."

"Dealing with what?" Eric swung his arm out in gesture and said, "You're walking out on a date-night."

"Yeah, and you're gonna watch me do it," Halle threw back bitterly.

"You're acting like a child," Eric remarked.

And that was when Halle hit the ceiling.

"I am child!" she yelled. "I'm seventeen, I still get to act like a child. But you know what? I've still got time to grow up and start acting like an adult, but you will never grow up," Halle fired at him. "You will always think your needs come before mine and everyone else's."

Eric stood up, engaged in the lovers' spat raging on in his game-room. "That's not true."

Halle stopped and looked him straight in the eye. "What's my favourite movie?"

Stumbling, Eric motioned to the laptop and gave, "You like The Goonies."

"Shrek Two is my favourite movie, yours is The Terminator," Halle stressed. She threw her hands up in defeat, finally giving over to the niggling feeling in the back of her head telling her to cut the strings. "I like salted popcorn, not sweet. I prefer Indian restaurants over Chinese, but Chinese takeout over Indian — yet we go to Mr Chung's every other date night because you like it. I care that you don't know who The Who are — and my favourite flowers are tulips. Pink tulips!" she cried out, exasperated. "Not red roses. I hate red roses. I think they're cliché and... and... and..."

Halle was staring at him, and she was drained. At that moment, she realised just how exhausted she felt at keeping this up. So, Halle blurted out the one thing she had been holding it.

"... And I don't think we'd be together if Alison didn't go missing."

Time stopped for Eric. The second the words hit his ears, he froze up. He had never heard something so ridiculous yet damming in his life.

She repeated herself for him, "I don't think we'd be together if Alison didn't go missing. I stayed where my pieces broke. I thought I had to stay where my pieces broke."

Eric had to make sure he was hearing her right, so he asked for clarification only to get angrier as he spoke it aloud. "So you stayed with me out of pity? You stayed with me? Do you hear how ridiculous you sound right now? You sound crazy."

"Don't!" warned Halle sternly. "Don't do that, don't put that on me. I'm not crazy right now. No, for the first time, I feel like I'm completely sane."

"So, that's it? You wanna break up?" he asked her, shocked by the revelation.

"No, maybe." Halle cringed at hearing herself say it out-loud. It had only been a dark thought up until that moment, and she pushed it down, never giving light to it. "No, no, I don't know," she said hopelessly. "I don't— What do you think?"

He was quiet for a moment, stoic in thought. Halle detested the silence. She was never comfortable with Eric being silent. There was something unnerving about it. "Eric?" she questioned cautiously.

"What if we start over?" Eric then suggested. "Get to know each other again." He stepped closer to her and put his hands on her shoulder, rubbing the spot tenderly. "Hey, it'll be like falling in love all over again."

There was a niggling feeling in her gut telling her that it wasn't what she wanted to hear. There was no relief felt, only tension. Halle's breath caught in her throat. "I love you, but—"

I'm not in love with you, I never have been. Or haven't for a while.

In her hand, the cellphone went off again. Yet, Halle was too busy in the middle of her own SOS to answers Spencer's.

"But?" questioned Eric eagerly.

"I have to go, it's Spencer," gave Halle.

Eric withdrew his hands from her shoulders, pulling back slightly. "I thought you were having alone time."

"It's important," Halle explained.

"This is important," Eric came back with.

Seeing no harm in telling the naked truth now, Halle said simply, "My friends need me right now, and that's where I need to be."

•

"Do we have a plan?" Hanna asked the group as they sat around in Spencer's car. They were following Melissa and Wren on their way to meet Ian, driving a little behind as not to alert Melissa to another car. Spencer drove, Emily sat in the front-passenger seat while the three sat in the back: Halle in the middle, painfully quiet for a portion of the ride, with Aria on her left and Hanna on her right.

"Working on it," Spencer said, too busy focusing on the road.

"That means no," Halle said, rolling her eyes. Why did they never have a plan?

"Shall we call Garrett? Tell him about Ian?" Emily suggested to them.

Halle shot that one down quick. "No."

"The last thing we need to do it get him involved in another mystery we can't explain," Aria reasoned.

"We can't have him lying for us to the police again," Halle added.

"Because that's what happens when we're the girls who cried wolf," Hanna spat disapprovingly. "I mean, don't you get it? We're screwed," she said, flat in tone.

Aria tapped the side of Spencer's seat. "They're stopping," she stated.

Slowly, Spencer pulled up behind of Wren's parked car. They were near an abandoned barn surrounded by forest and fields of overgrown grass. In the pitch-black, Melissa never would have noticed her sister's car park up behind the one she came in as she and Wren made their way through the wooden gate. The girls all got out, shutting the doors carefully as not to make any sudden loud sounds.

"There's not turning back now," Spencer remarked while she and the other approached, hidden behind bushes.

"I've got 9-1-1 on speed-dial," Aria told them, her phone held in a tight clutch.

Hanna screwed up her brows. "I've only got one bar," she panicked. "Oh, crap. No bars," she said.

"We should take a photo of Ian," Emily mentioned, "to prove we haven't been making this all up."

Turning back around, Halle threw Emily a hard glare. She was crouching down by hedge and her favourite sneakers were covered in mud. Firing her words, Halle said, "We said he was dead, Em. Dead — not hiding in a derelict barn."

"Yeah, well, you go ahead and take your photo while I try not to get killed," Hanna shot at the two.

Spencer wasn't immersed in the bickering going on behind her. Her eyes remained firmly on her sister and Wren whilst the two got closer to the barn. "I'm just worried about Melissa," she said. "Who knows what Ian's thinking?"

"Or if he has a gun," Aria said without thinking. "Ouch—" she felt Halle's hand collide with her forearm. She looked at her and said, "He's the bad guy, right?"

At the gates, the five watched Melissa say something to Wren — something that made the doctor stay out while only Melissa went inside. Sneaking around the gate, Spencer was careful not to make a sound. The same couldn't be said for the next moment.

A scream ripped through the night. It carried across the fields and haunted the ears of those who heard.

"Melissa!" Spencer cried.

Spencer broke into a sprint. The four ran after her, entering the barn and coming to a sudden stop.

"Oh, god." Halle wanted to vomit, shying herself way from the sight.

Against the wall, Ian Thomas's body laid. His skin was blue; his eyes blank, vacant of life. A single gunshot wound to his forehead, and the gun rested in his open palm.

•

Once again, the blues and reds of police sirens swept through Bridgewater Terrace. Halle scratched at the skin of the back of her hand and when that didn't succeed in keeping her breathing steady, she resulted in tapping her muddy sneakers against the floor of the police car. Her knee bounced up and down; she was on the verge of a panic attack, the weight in her chest so heavy she could confuse it for dying. She felt a swell of anxiety creep up her body. Her eyes welled up and her bottom lip trembled. Her body got increasingly hot as a wave of terror washed over her, suffocating her body underneath it. She was going to crumble.

No — not crumble.

Break.

Halle Brewster was going to break.

Having never seen a dead body, Halle didn't know what to expect, but she didn't expect that. She expected death to be loud — chaotic and menacing. Instead, it was silent and cold and empty. If she hadn't heard Melissa Hastings' weeps muffled by Spencer's coat, Halle would have thought she had gone deaf because she heard nothing and that was more harrowing than the scream.

Her head ached. Phantom pains from where she hit her head that night in the church. Ian Thomas was dead, and Halle was alive. Still, she lived with that scar.

"Halle," came a voice. She heard it the moment an officer opened the door for her and she climbed out. She saw Jason heading straight for her. Without thinking, Jason's feet carried him over and his arms wrapped themselves around her shaking form.

Surprising herself, Halle clung to him. Her fingers reached out and gripped tightly onto his shirt, pulling him closer to him. She wanted him to hold her. "It's Ian," she whimpered. "He's dead. He shot himself. He confessed to killing Ali."

The air deflated from Jason's lungs. Whatever he thought it was, he never once thought it could be that. Jason felt a wetness soak through his shirt and touch his skin. Not once, in all the years he has known her, had Jason seen her cry. He glanced down at Halle grabbing at him and he wound his arms more securely around her. There was a need to protect her, more so now than ever.

"It's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay," he told her. Jason didn't exactly believe it, but a part of him was relieved it was over. Ian killed Alison. It was over now. It had to be.

The police wanted to speak with Jason next. They wanted to explain to him what had occurred with Ian Thomas's suicide and the letter he left behind. Ian confessed to killing Jason's little sister; it devastated him yet Jason stayed calm.

Sat around the dining room of the Brewster house, the officers that drove Halle home informed Jason and Halle's parents of the events that happened that night. Halle placed her hand on Jason's shoulder. When he turned to her, she handed over a hot cup of coffee to him, the smallest of smiles on her face. His hand came up and rested on Halle's one, keeping her there while the police spoke to him.

"We did locate Ian Thomas tonight," Barry Maple told them. "Unfortunately, Mr Thomas has appeared to have taken his own life. We did find a letter near to the body and in the letter, Mr Thomas confesses to murdering Alison."

"He committed suicide?" Luisa Brewster asked, her hand over her chest as she felt oddly saddened.

"And he definitely confessed to killing Ali?" Jason asked the officer.

"I can't discuss the contents of the letter with you in detail, one of the detectives will do that with you and your family in the morning," Barry offered him. "But it would appear that he confessed to the murder."

"If that's all, officers," Nick Brewster said kindly. "I'll see you out," he said.

Officer Maple stood up with his fellow partner and thanked Mrs Brewster for the coffee before Nick led him through the archway of the dining room and into to the living room. They headed for the front door, chatting briefly on the porch.

"Hey, you okay?" Halle asked Jason quietly.

Jason kept her hand enclosed under his. He looked up at over his shoulder and smiled softly. "Yeah, just relieved it's all over now," Jason said. "We can start to move on now."

On noticing how close her daughter and Jason DiLaurentis were, Luisa cleared her throat and said, "Halle, can I have a word with you please? In the living room."

"Sure. I'll be right back," Halle said to Jason, letting go of his hand. She followed her mother into living room, expectantly looking at her with raised brow. "What's up?" Halle asked. "Because if this is about me being with my friends, I don't—"

"What's going on between you and Jason?" Luisa asked her daughter immediately.

Halle stopped. Her brows furrowed and her face dropped. "Someone has just confessed to killing his sister," Halle reasoned. "My best friend."

"That is not how you act if he's just your best friend's brother," Luisa said.

"It is when she's dead," Halle replied simply. She sighed, knowing it wasn't enough, and offered her mother sadly, "Do you ever think maybe he just needs someone?"

Luisa took in her daughter's words and nodded. "And that's you?"

Before Halle got to answer, her ears picked up another voice. Eric came walking into the home, Halle's father trailing behind him. Instantly, he went to his girlfriend and put his arms around her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Eric pulled back, his hands now cupping Halle's face.

Halle was confused, taken back by the sudden entrance and affection. "Eric? What are you doing here?" she asked, baffled. She hadn't expected him. She wasn't even sure if she wanted him there.

"Your mom called me," he explained. "She thought you needed someone." Eric pulled her back into another hug, kissing her head. "I'm sorry about tonight, I'm gonna work on us, I promise. I'm gonna be the best boyfriend ever. I'm gonna be great for you," he told her.

From her head being pressed against her boyfriend's chest, Halle turned it to the side. Her eyes met with Jason, him still sat her dining table, the coffee she made him in his hands. A sadness lingered behind his eyes, and something inside of her sank. From the moment she lost Alison, Halle always stayed where her pieces broke.

•