033 — stolen kisses

season three —
episode eight

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ASPEN DOESN'T HESITATE in joining the girls at the Fields household the next morning after making sure Jason's breathing and leaving a note on their beside table with Panadol and orange juice to cure his hangover.

"Emily's still on the phone, she seemed to take it okay, didn't she?" Aria quizzes worriedly.

"What, like we should be used to hearing from ghosts by now?" Spencer responds.

"Spencer, why can't you admit that she is trying to help us?" Hanna questions.

"Hanna, did you ever stop to think why Mona would want to help us?" Spencer wonders.

"Because she's afraid of something—just like we were afraid of her" Hanna mutters.

"I don't know" Spencer mumbles, "Yeah, you don't know—but the cops are still after my blood" Hanna says.

"I told you, my mom will handle that" Spencer responds while Aria and Aspen share a look with one another.

Hanna deeply sighs nervously, "I hate needs" Hanna mumbles standing up from her seated position.

"Okay, look—whether this if fake or not, we've got to figure out what's on that site" Aria states firmly.

Aspen turns towards the doorway seeing Emily walking back into her bedroom taking a seat on her bed, "It was Nate" Emily explains.

"What did he want?" Aspen questions looking at her cousin, "I promised to hike up with him to the old boat house, told him it was Maya's favorite spot in Rosewood" Emily responds.

"You're not—gonna, like, tell him about this, are you?" Spencer questions lowly.

"If I did that, I'd have to tell him how we know about it" Emily says in response.

"Em, what do you—want us to do about this?" Aria wonders nervously knowing this could bring a lot up for the brunette.

Aspen bites her lip sitting beside Emily on the bed rubbing her shoulder in comfort.

"Do you mind if we try and break into Maya's site?" Hanna quizzes facing the brunette.

"We have to" Emily shrugs in response, "Okay, well how do we get past the password?" Aria wonders looking at the laptop screen with Maya's website on display.

"It's just a password—there are ways of cracking it" Spencer mumble.

Emily squints thinking of something and gets up typing something into the password area only for it to say invalid.

"Thought I had an idea of what it was, guess I don't know her as well as I thought I did" Emily voices slamming the locker shut with force while the others surrounding her share sympathetic looks with one another.

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ASPEN JOINS SPENCER BACK at her house with Hanna while she tries to guess the password to Maya's website.

Hanna sighs in annoyance while the invalid password flashes again, "I thought you said you can crack it" Hanna mutters.

"I can, okay? I just have not done it yet, none of the regular work-arounds are working" Spencer responds tiredly smiling at Aspen snacking on some pistachios across from her.

"So when do you give up?" Hanna wonders, "That is completely the wrong attitude" Spencer responds.

"Spencer, we have to know what's on this!" Hanna exclaims motioning to the website.

"Okay, but it's not a piñata, I can't just whack at it with a stick!" Spencer responds using her hands in a gesture of whacking a piñata before typing on her laptop once more getting nowhere with the password once again.

"Okay, I think that I need help" Spencer mumbles looking at both girls.

"What kind of help?" Aspen questions seeing Spencer looking directly at Hanna.

"Oh" Hanna mumbles in realisation, "I-I heard that Caleb was back from California" Spencer voices.

"I haven't seen him, but—yeah, I know he's back" Hanna mumbles in response.

"He wouldn't even have to know what this was for, I could just ask him for some tips on how to get around a tough password" Spencer suggests.

"Yeah, you know what, go ahead, at least one of us might be able to be in the same room as him" Hanna responds.

"Okay, I'll talk to him tomorrow at school" Spencer explains softly knowing Caleb is still a sore subject for the Marin girl.

Hanna's phone chimes with a message making the blonde sigh pulling out the item seeing Aspen looking at her confused—also seeing the text message from Wren.

All three girls look towards Spencer's back side door seeing Toby storming in the kitchen looking directly at both Aspen and Spencer.

"Do either of you know where he is?" Toby snarls in anger, "Hey, Toby" Hanna greets.

"Hanna" Toby nods in a small greeting way before facing Spencer and Aspen once again.

"Where—who is?" Spencer quizzes confused sharing the same look with Aspen, "Jason" Toby mutters.

"Um, can you—wait upstairs? We'll be finished in a couple minutes" Spencer demands nicely facing Hanna.

"Yeah" Hanna mumbles in response leaving Spencer, Aspen and Toby downstairs near the back door.

"What do you mean, "where is he?"" Aspen questions, "I mean, I was just at his house and he's gone, I also went by your apartment Speny, no one's there, the house is locked, his car isn't in the garage" Toby explains.

Aspen immediately pulls out her iPhone seeing no messages from her boyfriend making her panic due to not knowing it Bowie's being cared for currently.

"Okay, so maybe he's just out" Spencer suggests, "He's not driving around with a busted-up front end, that car is evidence, he's not out, he's gone—across the state line, paying cash to fix his car, you covered for him, I covered for you, and you left us both lying to the cops" Toby utters noticing Aspen staring at her phone.

WHERE ARE YOU?
— ASPEN

"I was just trying to protect him" Spencer responds, "I think that you're the one that needs protection" Toby mutters in annoyance.

"He's my brother, Toby and Aspen's boyfriend" Spencer sighs grabbing her own mobile from her handbag hoping to somehow get a hold of Jason.

"And the people you really need protecting from are the ones you're related to, before you both talk to him, you're both gonna listen to me" Toby snaps snatching both Aspen and Spencer's phones out of their hands.

"Toby, please" Spencer exclaims trying to get her phone back while Aspen frowns at the couple.

"I'm not gonna ask either of you to explain anything, because you both won't—you just say that I have to trust you—both of you, Mona's locked up, Garrett is locked up, but you still jump every time your phone rings" Toby responds.

"It's—" Spencer tries to explain, "Yeah, I know, it's 'complicated', so I'll make easy on you—I'll find out for myself" Toby mutters throwing both phones on Spencer's sofa missing Jason's response completely on Aspen's iPhone.

TOOK BOWIE OUT, NEEDED FRESH AIR
CAR IS ALSO BEING FIXED—CAN YOU
APOLOGISE TO SPENCER FOR ME?
— JASON

Toby huffs walking out of Spencer's house leaving Spencer with tears in her eyes, "Toby, please—" Spencer voices while sniffling.

Hanna walks down the staircase due to hearing the last minute of their argument seeing Aspen looking at her phone.

"Um Toby was wrong—sorry Spence, Jason's still in town" Aspen voices after a while of silence showing Spencer and Hanna—Jason's text message explaining he's out with Bowie.

Spencer sighs shakily seeing Aspen opening her arms in a way of welcoming a much needed hug, "I'm so sorry, Spence" Aspen says rubbing Spencer's back in comfort before leaving the Hastings household returning back to her apartment seeing Jason standing in the living room on the phone to someone.

Jason eventually ends the call seeing his girlfriend grabbing a bottle of sparkling water from the fridge and sipping on it, "So, how's the end?" Aspen smirks, "Killing—but thanks for the Panadol and orange juice this morning" Jason responds tugging her closer to him, "My pleasure, baby" Aspen says pecking his lips and patting Bowie's head.

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THE NEXT DAY, ASPEN arrives at the high school after receiving an SOS text message from Spencer stating to meet her and the others in the courtyard since she needs to show them something.

MONA'S ALMOST GONE.
HANNA'S NEXT.
— A

"'Mona's almost gone', gone where?" Aria questions alarmed reading the message.

"The doctors at Radley want to send her to another hospital—one with thicker bars" Hanna explains.

"How do you know that?" Aspen quizzes, "Wren told me" Hanna shrugs in response shocking Spencer and Aspen.

"He did?" Spencer wonders shocked, "What does he have to do with any of this?" Aria questions.

"He thought I should know, and he said that Mona's been passing her meds to a visitor" Hanna states, "Lucas?" Emily voices in question.

"Wait, you're saying that the pills that Aria found in his bag might be from Mona?" Spencer asks stunned.

"I don't know, Wren didn't tell me, so I didn't ask" Hanna responds, "And 'Hanna's next'" Emily utters.

"Guys, I don't want to give anyone any of my blood, I need all I got" Hanna mumbles panicked.

"My mom is handling it" Spencer explains, "Wait a second, if they send Mona away, we're not gonna find out why she gave us Maya's site" Aria states.

"If it really is Maya's site" Emily voices looking at the others before walking off since school is now over.

Aria and Aspen follow Spencer home since Aria needs Spencer's help with an outfit and Aspen—just because she's bored knowing Jason's gonna be away for the next few days with his mental health and getting sober again.

The couple agreed that he should take Bowie with him for a support animal and to talk every day and night when they're free to talk.

"You're sure your mom can stop this court order on Hanna's blood?" Aria questions placing her handbag on the kitchen counter.

"My mom picks her teeth with court orders, what did you want to borrow?" Spencer wonders.

"I want something classy but not frumpy" Aria explains receiving an offended look off the Hastings girl.

"Not that you have frumpy" Aria quickly states hearing Aspen laugh at the quick response.

Aspen looks down noticing Mrs Hastings briefcase sitting beside the counter alongside Spencer and Aria.

"Mom?" Spencer shouts seeing if she gets a response quickly picking up the said case and opening it alerting Aspen and Aria who stand beside her.

"Spencer, she's gonna know you went through there" Aria warns, "I can get in and out without leaving a trace—ooh, jackpot" Spencer states grabbing the file out of the case.

"Garrett's file?" Aria and Aspen simultaneously ask, "Yeah, the works, get out your phone Aria, we're taking pictures, Aspen—stand guard" Spencer demands.

The blonde nods in response while Aria and Spencer quickly flip through the pages taking photos of the case belonging to Garrett Reynolds.

After being successful in taking photos of the notes, Spencer prints out the details so they can go over them.

"Maya wasn't just strangled, her trachea was crushed, by a pipe or a metal bar" Aria voices reading off one of the papers.

"Or a policeman's nightstick" Aspen suggests looking at Spencer and Aria.

"'Lividity indicates the victim was killed at the scene', lividity?" Aria questions confused.

"It's the way blood settles in the body when the heart stops, it means that Maya was killed right there in Emily's backyard" Spencer explains.

Aspen and Aria sigh in sadness at the thought of Maya being alone in her dying last breath.

"Look at this, Maya was killed the same night that Garrett was arrested at my house" Spencer states handing Aspen the piece of paper.

"Between 10pm and 2am" Aspen reads aloud, "Which means that he had plenty of time to kill Maya and meet with Melissa" Spencer voices looking at the two girls who sigh.

"Poor Maya, she was just out there in the backyard the whole time?" Aria quizzes sadly.

"Well, the tenants had moved out, and Em hadn't moved back in—the house was empty" Aspen responds lowly.

"Says that there was no personal property found at the scene" Aria states.

"So if she had a bag, somebody took it with them" Aspen explains.

Spencer hands Aria another piece of paper with more information, "What's this?" Aria asks.

"The prosecution witness list, look at that" Spencer states pointing at something—someone's name on the paper.

"Bart Comstock? 'Break him and it falls apart'" Aria reads Mrs Hastings writing off the paper.

"My mom is gonna go after this guy, he must know something or have seen something" Spencer suggests.

"Yeah, something bad about Garrett" Aspen voices, "And she thinks that if she can break him, she could win" Spencer mutters.

"The address is in Rosewood, do you want to go there?" Aria questions looking at Spencer and Aspen.

"Caleb's gonna be here any minute" Spencer responds, "And I'm here to teach him a lesson for hurting Hanna—I'm joking" Aspen explains.

"I'll go on my way home" Aria states firmly standing up from the chair her and Spencer were seated on.

"Are you sure?" Spencer asks shocked, "Mm-hmm, I'm just gonna see what's there" Aria states grabbing her handbag from beside the door seeing Aspen lying on the girls bed staring at her phone.

"You're not gonna tell Caleb about these, are you?" Aria questions, "No, it's strictly 'need to know'" Spencer responds firmly seeing Aspen nodding in agreement on the bed.

"Okay, bye" Aria responds walking out of Spencer's bedroom heading home.

Spencer sits beside Aspen on the bed, "How are you, really?" Spencer questions capturing Aspen's attention.

"Lonely" Aspen murmurs looking at the Hastings girl who sighs, "I'm sorry" Spencer mumbles sadly.

"Don't apologise Spence, we're okay, he just needed some time out of this town" Aspen explains walking downstairs beside the brunette seeing Caleb waiting for Spencer at the back side door.

Aspen sits at the kitchen counter letting Caleb have his space to work all while snacking on more of the Hastings pistachios.

"I'm usually pretty good figuring out passwords" Spencer mumbles watching the Rivers male work.

"That's because most people don't want good passwords—they want passwords they can remember, passwords keep you from going in the front door—I like to look for an open window, something that allows you to get into the system and unlock things from the other side" Caleb explains while working on hacking into Maya's website.

"Like a burglar" Aspen voices with a smile looking at the male, "That's the idea" Caleb responds.

"That's a nice machine, your folks?" Spencer wonders, "My mom" Caleb confirms with a soft smile.

"New car, new computer—" Spencer says, "She just lent me the car" Caleb chuckles.

"Okay, she didn't lend you that sweater" Aspen voices motioning to the sweater placed over the sofa behind them.

"No, it's a rental" Caleb explains hearing Aspen and Spencer both scoff playfully.

"What? Do you just want me to admit that my mom bought me new clothes?" Caleb questions smiling.

"That is not just clothing, that is $400 worth of sweater you have there" Spencer explains gesturing to the sweater.

"So I should probably wash it on gentle then, right?" Caleb smirks, "No! You should dry clean it! If you wash this, you will end up with a sweater for a shih tzu" Spencer exclaims.

"I have never been a dry cleaning kind of guy" Caleb states, "That was then, and this is now" Aspen shrugs in response biting into another pistachio nut hearing Spencer and Caleb both chuckle in response.

Eventually, Caleb and Spencer move to the kitchen counter sitting beside Aspen who's now finished eating her snack and focusing on the laptop screen while Spencer snacks on pretzels.

"These are so deadly" Spencer groans, "Put the pretzel down and cross your fingers" Caleb suggests typing on his computer logging into the site.

"We're in" Caleb reveals shocking Aspen and Spencer, "You're kidding" Spencer responds pressing play on the video of Maya in front of them.

"'But at my back I always hear time's winged chariot hurrying near', Andy Marvel—what a marvel—talking to his coy mistress about how they shouldn't waste any time, like you're doing listening to me" Maya says through the screen smiling at the camera.

Aspen bites her lip sadly seeing her cousins ex girlfriend on the screen.

"Oh, my god, I cannot believe that you got us in!" Spencer states happily bringing Caleb in for an embrace.

Caleb looks at Aspen noticing her distant look seeing someone she counted as friend on the screen.

"This is where I'm going to put things to keep from losing them, I'm always losing things" Maya says through the screen suddenly getting serious with the camera.

"So this really is Maya's site" Aspen mumbles sadly, "Yeah, it is" Caleb responds.

"If you're looking at me, beware—this site is cursed" Maya states hissing at the camera before breaking out in laughter.

After the video ends the homepage loads making more and more videos show up.

Caleb doesn't waste a second after finding the password for the two of them hugging Aspen goodbye before leaving Spencer's house not wanting to be trapped in the sad memories of Maya with the others.

"We should probably call Aria and the others" Aspen suggests looking at Spencer who nods in response.

"It is completely real, did you find anything?" Spencer wonders after talking to Aria for a while and updating her on the website.

"Yeah, that guy Bart Comstock, he saw Maya get into a police car with Garrett the night he killed her" Aria explains over the phone.

"H-he told you that?" Aspen gasps hearing the girl since Spencer's phone is on speaker.

"That's why your mom Spence—wants to squash him" Aria responds aiming that part of the conversation at Spencer.

"I'm gonna try Emily again" Aspen states dialling Emily's number, "Okay, just—please let me know when you get ahold of her" Aria pleads.

"Okay, bye" Spencer says ending the phone call while Aspen shakes her head receiving Emily's voicemail again.

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SPENCER MESSAGES ARIA and Hanna to come over to her house immediately since they need to see what Aspen and her have been going over since Caleb got them in.

"You're making me laugh, I'm trying to eat" Emily says through one of the videos smiling brightly at the camera.

"We should not be watching this" Aria states stopping the video from playing.

"There are hundreds of videos, and you don't know what they are until you open them" Spencer explains opening another folder full of photos and videos.

"Everything's jumbled up" Aria states, "Yeah, it's more of a junk drawer than a journal" Aspen explains.

"Yeah, but this is real, Mona gave us the genuine article" Hanna states, "How?" Aria asks.

"Why?" Spencer questions, "To help us" Hanna responds looking at Spencer.

"How much of this did Caleb see?" Aria quizzes looking at Aspen and Spencer.

"He didn't want to see any of it once he realised what it was, but he got us in there" Aspen explains pressing play on another video of Maya talking to the camera.

"I think Emily's got a very old soul, I feel it when I kiss her, I can hear clocks all over the world running backwards" Maya voices through the laptop screen.

"I'm so out of my comfort zone" Spencer states pausing the video, "Hanna, don't—" Aria voices seeing Hanna scrolling through videos.

"Just one more" Hanna responds firmly pressing play on another video this time in a dark spot.

"I'm such a coward, I know that, I have to face my fears—I can't hide forever, I can't keep being afraid" Maya shakily voices talking to her phone's camera.

"Call her" Hanna demands looking at Spencer and Aspen, "Her phone is off" Aspen explains.

"Well, call her again, now—we can't watch this without her" Aria states.

Aspen dials Emily's number hearing a dial tone on the line, "At least it's on this time" Aspen voices before locking her phone receiving no answer from her couple sharing worried looks with the others.

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TO BE CONTINUED...

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