015 — a hot piece of 'a'

season two —
episode fifteen

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ASPEN QUICKLY GRABS BOWIE from Hanna's car following the others as they rush back inside the greenhouse looking for the box Jason gave Aspen a few days prior to him leaving town.

"How hard did you hit him, her, it?" Aria questions, "Didn't run like a her" Emily mumbles.

"I thought it was an animal" Hanna explains looking at Aspen holding her puppy in her arms tightly, "It was—is" Spencer snarls.

"Okay, where is the box?" Emily asks panicked, "You guys, this phone is locked" Spencer voices looking at the mobile in her hand.

"And where were you guys? I thought we were supposed to meet up here, wasn't that the plan?" Emily wonders frustrated.

"I'm so sorry, Em, I—I dropped a huge bomb at home, my parents won't let me go anywhere, I had to crawl through Mike's window" Aria explains.

"And Toby came in and totally cornered me with all of these questions about why I was acting this way, and he would not leave without any answers" Spencer rambles.

Aspen rubs Hanna's arm nervously stopping the girl from pacing considering it's making her a little nauseous, "Kate's moving to Rosewood" Hanna reveals interrupting the others rants.

"What?" All of the girls minus Aspen shriek shocked by the news.

"Yeah, my dad and Isabel got married, and now they're looking for a house here in Rosewood, so now I have more than one monster in my life, okay? I win" Hanna snarls biting her nails anxiously.

"No, you don't! I was almost killed! These are not highlights, Hanna, this is glass in my hair!" Emily exclaims.

"And why weren't you here earlier?" Emily asks directing the question the overwhelmed dirty blonde.

"I was waiting for Hanna, I took my medication earlier and can't drive" Aspen explains receiving a nod from the brunette.

"You guys, can you talk to me for a second? I'm holding A's phone in my hand, what are we doing with it?" Spencer asks freaked out while Aspen hands Hanna her puppy so she's able to help Aria get the glass out of Emily's hair.

"Something, before A knows we have it" Emily shrieks, "Stand still" Aria mumbles holding the torch so Aspen can get the shards out of her cousins hairline.

"Hanna, call Caleb!" Spencer demands looking at Hanna who frowns clearly confused.

"Why?" Hanna shrugs, "He's the best way that we can get information off of this" Spencer explains.

"No, leave him out of this" Hanna snaps, "But he's our best beat at tracing this back to A" Spencer states.

"There are other people, we'll take it to the phone store tomorrow" Hanna suggests.

"The—the phone store?" Spencer asks in disbelief, "Well, then, call technical support! We can have someone in Pakistan do it!" Hanna shouts annoyed patting Bowie.

"Hanna!" Emily shouts, "This can't wait until tomorrow" Aria voices, "Once A realises it's missing—" Emily states.

"I get it, okay? But this phone is connected to Jenna and officer Garrett, Caleb already has bad history with her and the police, we're not going there!" Hanna exclaims seeing Aspen looking around once again growing overwhelmed.

"Okay, but if he can find something that finally nails the two of them together" Aria explains, "At least consider it" Emily suggests.

"Hanna, come on, think this through" Aria states, "I am" Hanna nods confident with her answer.

"Okay, you done thinking? 'Cause we're running out of time here" Spencer shouts looking around at the others.

"Wait, is Caleb still crashing with Lucas? Where's Lucas' house? I'll go over right—" Spencer rambles orders.

"Spencer, stop giving us orders! We're not your winged monkeys!" Hanna shouts growing annoyed.

"Guys, stop! There's got to be a way that we can get Caleb to help without—" Aria starts to say hearing the ringing of the cellphone.

Aspen jumps hearing the ringing, "Answer it" Spencer states handing the phone to Aria.

Aria then shoves the phone into Emily's hands, "Answer it, answer it!" Aria demands.

"Why me? I've got glass in my hair!" Emily exclaims grabbing a piece of her hair.

"I'll answer it! What do you want me to say? Should we tell them that we have the phone?" Hanna wonders snatching the phone out of Aria's hands.

"They'll know that when you say hello" Spencer states while the phone continues ringing around them.

"It's blocked" Hanna explains looking at the caller id.

Aspen shrieks feeling glass shatter above her, "I've got Caleb's number! I'm calling him!" Emily explains.

"Go!" Aria states while following the others out of the greenhouse towards the cars to head back to Spencer's house for the night.

Aspen takes ahold of Bowie while Hanna follows behind Spencer's vehicle with the others inside of it.

Aspen winces feeling a piece of glass cut her forehead, "Ow" Aspen mutters holding onto the wound nodding at Hanna that she's okay and not severely hurt.

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THE FIVE GIRLS MEET CALEB at Spencer's house who immediately gets his laptop out of his bag and loads all of the files up onto the screen.

"What's that number?" Spencer asks, Aspen sits beside Hanna who's clearly uncomfortable with her boyfriend being close with all of the A stuff.

"Tells me how much data is currently loaded on the phone, it's a lot" Caleb explains, "You mean like photos, videos?" Emily questions.

"Definitely more than angry birds" Caleb states shocking the girls surrounding him while Bowie sleeps in Aspen's arms.

"And how long will it take to download?" Spencer asks, "We're not there yet" Caleb voices looking at the brunettes.

Caleb frowns looking at Hanna and Aspen sitting together away from them, "Hanna" Caleb voices.

While looking at Aspen's slouching figure, "Hm?" Hanna hums, "You all right?" Caleb frowns.

"Yeah" Hanna nods patting Bowie's head.

"All right, can somebody tell me whose phone this is?" Caleb questions.

"We can't, yet, the less you know right now, the better" Spencer explains confusing the male, "O-kay" Caleb mutters.

"Well, then, can somebody at least tell me why Emily smells like a bag of mulch and Aspen looks like she's seen a ghost, I mean she has a cut on her forehead?" Caleb questions seeing Aspen place her hand over the wound from the shattered glass earlier.

"Wait, something just came up" Aria states looking at the laptop screen with warning signs all over the screen, "Crap" Caleb mutters.

"What just happened?" Aria wonders, "Phone got bricked" Caleb states, "Translate, please" Emily suggests.

"The owner shut down the phone from their computer" Caleb explains hearing Aspen sigh in annoyance.

The blonde would much rather be at her apartment sleeping for school tomorrow morning.

"So we lost everything?" Spencer shrieks, "We never had everything, I have some files, but they're locked and they're probably corrupted" Caleb explains hearing everyone's disappointed sighs except for Aspen and Hanna's who look around the kitchen annoyed.

"I can try and retrieve what I have, but it's gonna take a while, are you sure you want me to work on this?" Caleb wonders.

"Yes!" Emily, Aria and Spencer exclaim without a second of thought.

"Hanna, Aspen, are you all right with this?" Caleb asks wanting to have their approval as well.

Aspen sighs but nods as does Hanna before she walks the male out of the Hastings household saying their goodnights and sharing a quick hug and kiss.

"Well, I'm gonna head home and get some sleep, I have a test tomorrow morning, Han, you alright to drop me home?" Aspen wonders seeing Hanna nod and grab her car keys.

Both Aspen and Hanna say their farewells to their friends before walking out of the Hastings household defeated and confused.

"Thanks for the lift Han, see you tomorrow" Aspen smiles grabbing Bowie's leash from the backseat and her hang bag.

Before exiting the car and walking into her apartment immediately falling asleep in her cosy warm bed.

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THE NEXT MORNING ASPEN walks into the high school meeting up with Hanna in the hallways noticing Caleb sitting outside with his laptop open in the courtyard.

"Hey!" Hanna says feeling bubbly inside, "Hey, you" Caleb smiles, "Hey C" Aspen waves smiling at the couple who peck lips before Hanna pulls away not wanting to make Aspen uncomfortable.

"What are you working on?" Hanna wonders, "You and your friends gave me homework, remember?" Caleb chuckles, "You're doing that here?" Aspen asks looking around unsure.

"Nobody knows what I'm working on" Caleb explains taking note of the girls anxiousness.

"So, uh, when do I get inducted into this secret society? Hey, I like playing Mission: Impossible as much as the next guy, but, uh, I'm starting to feel like somebody doesn't trust me" Caleb explains.

"I for one, trust you C, you're like my brother" Aspen shrugs smiling at the male who's looking at his girlfriend.

"Who? Me? Caleb! Come on, I trust you" Hanna explains looking at her boyfriend shocked and a little upset.

"But—not with this" Caleb mumbles seeing Hanna look around once more like Aspen previously did.

"We have gotten naked together in more ways than one, Han, why are we suddenly strangers when it comes to a stolen phone?" Caleb wonders.

"Okay, gross, I did not need to know that" Aspen voices with her nose scrunched up.

"Girl—I listen to you and your sex talk, you have to put up with mine" Hanna smirks looking at Aspen who nods and shrugs knowingly.

"It wasn't stolen—we found it" Hanna explains now looking at Caleb, "Why don't I believe that?" Caleb questions noticing Aspen standing up.

"I've gotta get to my next class, talk soon okay? See ya Han, C" Aspen smiles walking off leaving the couple behind who are talking happily to Lucas.

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ASPEN SIGHS WALKING OUT from her previous class seeing the others in the hallway smiling at them before walking into the bathroom to do her business and freshen herself up.

Aspen walks into the courtyard seeing Spencer and Emily talking before Spencer's face brightens seeing the blonde walking towards them, "Hey" Aspen smiles, "Hey" both Emily and Spencer smile.

"I've got to run, community service starts at 4pm sharp" Emily says.

"Wait, yours is today? I was hoping you'd be able to come snoop around Jason's house with me" Spencer mumbles seeing Aspen's confused face at the mention of her ex boyfriend's name.

"Jason's? Why Jason?" Emily frowns sensing Aspen's uncomfortableness beside her at the mention of he's name.

"Well, if Jenna and Garrett have a helper, and it's a he, where does your mind go?" Spencer wonders.

"It's going to community service, ask Aria" Emily suggests.

"I did, she's under house arrest, and besides, she really believes that Jason's been out of town for weeks" Spencer shrugs.

"Because he has been?" Aspen mumbles biting her lower lip trying not to cry.

"Then ask Hanna or ask someone else" Emily suggests motioning to the growing emotional ex girlfriend of the man she wants to stalk.

"Hanna spent all of chem class drawing pictures of me in a pointy hat and a wart on my nose" Spencer explains.

"She'll get over it, offer her your lake house, she needs some serious face time with Caleb" Emily shrugs.

"My lake house?" Spencer frowns confused hearing Aspen chuckle amused under her breath.

"They've already made some memories on that couch in the living room" Emily smirks.

"She—she didn't tell you?" Emily mumbles walking away seeing Spencer's shocked face.

"That was my Nana's couch" Spencer mutters horrified hearing Aspen giggle.

"Alright, come on—I'm doing this because I love you, come on" Aspen states motioning to go snoop around her ex boyfriend—Jason's house.

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THE NEXT MORNING SPENCER GROANS coming up with nothing at Jason's house seeing the male is actually out of town and Aspen's uncomfortable hurt face hearing that sentence repeated over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you come with me Spenny" Spencer says.

"It's fine, I'm fine, come on, Em needs us at school to show us and Aria something" Aspen states walking towards Spencer's vehicle wiping away a tear that's fallen down her cheek.

"'I almost got caught tonight, it's gone, and I can't get it back, I might as well be dead'" Spencer reads.

"Tell me that does not sound like A's helper" Emily states, "They let you keep this?" Spencer asks, "No! They don't know I have it" Emily responds.

"Okay, so I have good news and I have bad news" Hanna states walking towards the friend group.

"Have you seen this?" Spencer wonders.

"Are you kidding? I woke up to it, Emily taped it to our bathroom mirror" Hanna explains holding the piece of paper.

"We knew that it wasn't Jenna in the greenhouse, but now it looks like it wasn't" Spencer voices.

"It was her drone" Emily explains, "Okay, I think that we should all be working at this crisis hotline, I mean, if A's helper calls back, we can—" Spencer suggests.

"Nnnn—No, I can't work at a hotline, I'm on lockdown, I can barely even pee without a chaperone" Aria states.

"Wait, you're coming to my surprise party, right?" Hanna questions, "Nope, not unless you're throwing it in my closet" Aria shrugs.

Aspen feels a hand touch her shoulder gently, "Hey, guys, you got a minute?" Caleb asks motioning for them to follow him into a nearby classroom.

"I finally cracked one of these files" Caleb explains showing the five girls a photograph of creepy dolls.

"But I'm guessing that wasn't what you were looking for, what are you looking for?" Caleb frowns folding his arms together.

"No, this is—this is really great, could you please forward this picture to all of us? I really have to get to class" Spencer explains seeing Caleb nod.

"Thanks, Caleb" Aria mumbles quietly, "Yeah, thank you" Spencer voices.

"Thanks C, bye Han" Aspen states following the others out of the classroom feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, signifying a text message.

ASPEN, PLEASE GIVE ME TIME, YOU DROPPED A MASSIVE BOMB ON ME ABOUT OUR UNBORN CHILD AND HOOKING UP WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE KIND OF WHILE WE WERE TOGETHER. NOT ONLY AM I A LITTLE BETRAYED WITH YOU BUT ALSO WITH ERIC, HE'S ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS THERE IN ROSEWOOD AND NOW FINDING OUT THAT THE TWO OF YOU HOOKED UP. IT'S SCREWED WITH MY HEAD A LITTLE BIT, GIVE ME TIME, PLEASE. I STILL LOVE YOU
— JASON

Aspen gasps feeling the incoming tears and harsh breaths coming to the surface.

Worrying Spencer, Emily and Aria who look at Aspen's tear filled eyes before the girl runs into the bathroom.

They rush in following after her and Hanna as well after exiting the classroom with Caleb inside of it seeing the impacts of Aspen's tears.

"He hates me" Aspen gasps leaning against the sink of the bathroom, "No, he doesn't" Aria shakes her head after reading the text message from the male who's clearly destroying her best friend emotionally.

"I shouldn't have fucking told him, A ruined it" Aspen sobs leaning into Hanna's embrace.

"Spenny, he still loves you—" Emily starts to explain but receives a shake of the head off Spencer motioning for her to be quiet.

"I'm gonna go home—I just wanna be alone for a while with the last piece of him, I have" Aspen explains leaving the girls looking at one another.

"I'll see you tonight, okay?" Aspen states turning around to face them seeing them nodding.

Aspen gets into her car bawling her eyes out at the failed relationship, feeling her actual heart shatter once she parks in-front of her apartment.

Aspen sobs walking into the apartment hearing Bowie's feet amongst the kitchen tiles already looking at his human with pure love in his little doe eyes.

Aspen picks him up sobbing into his fur as she lays on her large bed cuddling her puppy into her chest finally allowing the heartbreak, pain and shattering to pour out of her into the empty and quiet apartment of hers.

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ASPEN DRIVES OUT TO THE lake-house meeting Hanna at the front door.

"I'm fine, let's just focus on Caleb tonight, okay?" Aspen suggests seeing Hanna nod and smile softly at her.

Aspen organisers the cups for the drinks and other stuff around the house hearing Hanna coming down from the attic getting the food inside to organise that as well before Caleb arrives later on.

Knowing that Hanna and Lucas have gone to organise the fireworks across the lake seeing Emily and Spencer walking around the house alarmed.

Aspen walks around the party pouring herself a glass of juice seeing Noel walking towards her.

Noel smiles at her seeing Aspen returning the gesture.

Before walking off to find Emily and Spencer who rush towards her alarmed.

"Lucas was the one on the phone Spen! And his alone with Hanna across a lake, we need to find them, now!" Spencer exclaims shocking the blonde and running out of the house towards the water shouting Hanna's now over and over.

Aspen bites her lip and messes up her hair feeling more alarmed not receiving a reply or shout back from Hanna out on the canoe.

"I can't see anything, can you see anything?" Emily asks, "No, I can hear things, and that's enough" Spencer responds.

"Hanna! Answer us!" Spencer shouts.

"Let's get in the car, they're probably at the pier" Emily suggests, "No, Emily, it's a winding road" Aspen shrieks.

"By the time that we get around—" Spencer finishes for the panicked blonde.

"Well, we have to do something, okay?" Emily cries out, "Hanna! Hanna, answer us!" Spencer shouts, "I'm calling the police" Emily states.

"Go inside, go!" Aspen states motioning towards the house where there's better service.

"Hanna!" Both Aspen and Spencer repeat shouting looking at one another growing more and more worried for their close friend.

"Oh, my god!" Aspen exclaims seeing Hanna swimming into the area the shoutings coming from.

Aspen doesn't hesitate in jumping into the water helping Hanna who's exhausted come to the shoreline more.

"Hanna, come here, are you okay? Where's Lucas?" Aspen asks practically shivering but helping Hanna sit on the shoreline of the lake.

"Somebody get them a blanket! Hurry!" Spencer shouts, "I've got you both" Spencer says worrying about Aspen now getting hypothermia alongside Hanna.

"Is she okay?" Emily asks walking towards her friend and soaked cousin.

"She swam back!" Aspen explains rubbing her hands up and down Hanna's arms trying to warm the girl up.

"What's going on? Why is everybody out here?" Mona asks stepping out from the sidelines with Noel beside her looking at Aspen concerned.

"Where were you?" Spencer questions, "We took a dip" Mona shrugs.

Aspen sighs feeling a blanket being placed over both her and Hanna, "What?" Emily frowns.

"Uh—nice night for it" Noel shrugs still looking at Aspen's shivering frame hugging herself closer to Hanna.

"Is Lucas still out there?" Aspen wonders quietly seeing Hanna's breathing calming down a little bit.

"Hanna, what's going on?" Caleb asks suddenly pushing past the onlookers seeing he's girlfriend and best friend soaking wet being hugged by both Emily and Spencer to maintain their body temperature.

"Surprise" Hanna states gulping hating that the surprise was ruined, "Oh, my gosh" Zoey—one of the onlookers gasps seeing the canoe floating closer to the shoreline without Lucas inside of it.

"No, look, look, look" Kyle—another onlooker whispers shocked by the sight.

Aspen holds onto Hanna tightly trying to comfort her as much as she can while feeling the cold air whipping past her and making her freezing cold.

After a while of warming up both Aspen and Hanna, the party is canceled leaving everyone leaving the lake-house.

The four girls drive towards Spencer's house to spend the night together and shower the stench of lake water off their bodies.

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TO BE CONTINUED...